It's been said that China has not been as quick as other Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea to embrace and develop smart cities, but the country has been making progress. And the announcement at the Fourth China International Smart City Expo 2018 this week of a smart cities collaboration between top Chinese tech companies, including Council Global Lead Partner Huawei, is expected to accelerate and expand the country's efforts. — Doug Peeples
Major Chinese financial group Ping An has introduced its "1+N" integrated smart city platform and smart city solutions intended to drive smart city development throughout the country.
Working with partners Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei, Ping An expects to take its PATH to Smart Cities platform and solutions to cities throughout the country where, at this point, more than 500 cities are planning smart city developments.
Ping An said it has invested more than $7.27 billion on technology research over the past 10 years and gained expertise in many areas, including intelligent cognition, AI, blockchain and cloud computing, as well as facial recognition.
And the other PATH (an acronym for Ping An, Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei) partners are making technological contributions as well. Alibaba will contribute its expertise in online and mobile payment platforms. Tencent, which has considerable experience in internet-related services, will be primarily responsible for communications connections, and Huawei will provide new smartphones and other related equipment.
The smart city platform will support cities' efforts in smart government, finance, security, transportation, ports, education, healthcare, environmental protection and other areas.
Doug Peeples is a Portland, Oregon-based writer specializing in technology and energy. Follow @smartccouncil on Twitter.
