It takes a lot to make a city as livable as possible. Taichung City’s recent initiative showed exemplary leadership as they were able to coordinate and execute a plan toward a cleaner city in terms of air quality using emerging technology.
As reported by the Environmental Protection Bureau, the city mayor, Mayor Lu Shiow-yen, launched her “Blue Sky White Cloud Action Plan” after being elected. The initiative was formed to improve the city’s air quality; the plan itself is comprehensive putting emphasis on utilising “open and transparent” data. The mayor has even demanded that officials in her air-pollution quarterly meetings should strive to break the technical bottleneck associated with the monitoring of fire hazard points.
Now, her action plan is paying huge dividends. The initiative has been internationally recognised for its efficiency and, perhaps most importantly, it has helped the people of Taichung achieve a cleaner city. The initiative demonstrated an exemplary model for collaboration and cooperation, no easy feat given the number of departments and bureaus involved.
At the core of the initiative is digitalisation. It uses the existing network of air quality sensors that has been enhanced by the Internet of Things (IoT) so multiple applications are brought to play. The setup itself enables the city administration to view real-time air quality data. That means they can track pollution sources and pinpoint major pollution incidents as they happen. This is especially useful in industrial zones where the stakes could be higher.
The Environmental Protection Bureau detailed that the city has an extensive network of sensors numbering up to 1,4411. That is a lot higher than most cities in the world. Plus, they’ve optimised these sensors toward better monitoring of the air quality network.
The network has been connected to key segments of the city. With the IoT integration, the initiative has successfully adopted the case handling technology done by the city’s police department. That should enable them to deploy smart enforcement of the city’s air quality monitoring.
In the previous year, the initiative provided needed blow-by-blow data on the real-time status of fire incidents. Plus, it was able to analyse in detail how such fire incidents affect the overall picture of the air quality. Furthermore, the initiative stepped up the drive against air pollution. Last year, it investigated over 30 cases of air pollution. Due to its remarkable results, the “Air Quality Sensor IoT” was recognised as one of the most influential initiatives in the world.
Recently, Taichung City got the “Smart 50 Awards”, an annual American award for the best cities in the world in terms of technology and innovation. Taichung is the only East Asian city to get awarded in the international competition. Taiwan has joined hands with other countries to make the internet safer and more open for collaboration so technology can be shared by everyone.
Local industries have started to embrace circular design for a circular economy. One of its biggest semiconductor manufacturers is leading the way with its zero-waste manufacturing facility as reported on OpenGov Asia.
