Information Policy

Malaysia’s capital will adopt ‘smart city’ platform from Alibaba

Alibaba’s cloud computing business is to deploy its big data services package for cities in Kuala Lumpur to help Malaysia’s government with the running of its capital city and potentially other parts of the country in the future.

“City Brain,” an Alibaba Cloud service that uses big data and artificial intelligence on its cloud computing infrastructure, will be put to use in the city after an agreement with local council Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) was announced today.

Smart Dubai close to rolling out 20 blockchain-based services

Smart City, the Dubai Government agency entrusted with making Dubai the world's happiest and smartest city, said it was close to rolling out 20 blockchain applications in a number of civic agencies including the Roads and Transport Authority in order to bring greater efficiency.

"Blockchain will improve people's experience," Aisha Bint Buti bin Bisher, the director general of Smart Dubai, told The National on the sidelines of Unlock Blockchain Forum on Sunday.

Smart city means building an inclusive society for all

Written by Eng. Nabil Eid.  Strategic Disability Inclusion ICT Accessibility consulting services & solutions Middle East and North Africa. 

Today, 54 per cent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase to 66 per cent by 2050. Projections show that urbanization combined with the overall growth of the world’s population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban populations by 2050, with close to 90 per cent of the increase concentrated in Asia and Africa, according to The World Urbanization Prospects and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs report.

A Smarter London Together: Listening exercise for a new Smart London Plan

The following long read is a discussion paper drawn up by the Chief Digital Officer for London and the Smart London Board setting the scene for the development of a new Smart London plan, with a series of questions at the end. Submissions of evidence should be emailed to: [email protected] or comments left below on this document. Look out for further information on the Smart London website.

At London Tech Week in June 2017 the Mayor set out an ambition for London to become the smartest city in the world. He has asked London’s new Chief Digital Officer and the Smart London Board to secure London’s position at the forefront of innovation in smart cities and what is known as advanced urban services. Together they are starting a Listening Exercise for a new Smart London Plan. This will result in measures for a future, inclusive London in line with mayoral strategies and the London Plan. This will build on past progress and take on board lessons learnt from smart cities in the UK and across the world.

George Soros: Facebook and Google a menace to society

Facebook and Google have become “obstacles to innovation” and are a “menace” to society whose “days are numbered”, said billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.