The 2009 Intelligent Cities ICT Forum Taipei, an ICT initiative for urban development that is one of the joint projects of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21), was held by the Taipei Municipal Government at National Taipei University from September 22 to September 23, 2009.
This ICT Forum involved the cities taking part to share information among each other about successes or experiences in dealing with ICT (information and communications technology), and aimed to promote strategies for realizing electronic municipal governments in Asia and the proliferation and use of broadband.
This time, two staffs took part as the representatives of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. They spoke to us about the ICT Forum.
Report Mr. Noriyuki Iizuka, director in charge of Coordination, General Affairs Division, Bureau of Urban Development and Mr. Tomonaga Ohno, the senior staff from the Planning and Accounting Section of the same Division
From right, Mr. Iizuka, a director and Mr. Ohno, a senior staff from the Urban Development Bureau.
During this ICT Forum, the Government of Taiwan, Taipei Municipal Government, Taiwanese companies, Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the City of the Gold Coast were the seven groups to take part and give presentations.
On the first day, each group gave a presentation on such things as their IT infrastructure maintenance, the variety of services where they are putting IT to use and the developments they see occurring in the future, with each city reaffirming the astonishing developments that have taken place within the ICT sector in less than 10 years.
As initiatives being undertaken by the Taipei Municipal Government, leaving an impression was its introduction on how it is putting effort into the realization of FTTH (Fiber to the Home, where optic fiber is used as a data transmission service for household use) and the maintenance of high-speed wireless broadband infrastructure, as well as use of such things as an easy card that could be used for payment for parking, subways, buses or taxis, or as an ID card for students.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government gave a presentation on the "Tokyo Ubiquitous Technology Project." This is an initiative where the latest technologies are put to use in the field of town planning. By using small computers such as IC tags embedded in places such as roads and on street lights, anyone at all can get their hands on the information they need at any time and from any place at all in a project that aims for the realization of a society where technology is ubiquitous.
Call Center
On the second day, the participants went on an inspection tour of the Taipei Municipal Government's Disaster Readiness Center and a Call Center. This Call Center is a one-stop service center where officials respond to any non-emergency requests that citizens make of the municipal government. Merely by dialing "1999," allers are connected to the Call Center, where they can do such things as seek simple consultations about parking violations, trash disposal, road deterioration, replacement of bulbs in street lights, accommodation facilities or requests for introductions to restaurants, and responses are made to every possible kind of inquiry that the citizens can make.
To be able to have a one-stop response to citizens' requests covering such a wide variety as this, a strong bond between each concerned organized is indispensible, and the Taipei Municipal Government has been able to build such a connected system, for which respect must be expressed at being able to provide such high-level service to its residents.
Greeting the Deputy Mayor of Taipei during an informal gathering
Finally, the thing that left the deepest impression about this forum was the high level of English conversation skills and hospitality shown by officials from the Taipei Municipal Government. I was able to mix with many Taipei Municipal Government officials at places such as the presentation site, city facilities and during an informal gathering, and everyone spoke English very well and responded to me with great kindness. While being left with a great impression, I was also able to confirm once more just how important English conversational skills are in terms of being a communication tool.
The forum carried extremely important meaning, not just as a place to share information about each city's latest initiatives related to ICT projects, but also because it provided a chance to form valuable human networks.
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