November - 20208In My OpinionSMART URBANISM AND AN ALL-DIGITAL ECONOMY AS NECESSITY, NOT A FUTURISTIC DREAMBenson Tam, Founding Partner and Chairman, Venturous GroupByIn recent years, we have seen the birth and development of many new smart technologies that promise to change how the world lives, works, and plays.While many countries are working toward building smarter services that tap into technologies such as machine learning, intelligent automation, and blockchain, all of us at Venturous Group see the opportunity of creating an all-digital economy in China by transforming its cities into safer, faster, and more liveable smart cities and towns. China is uniquely positioned to be the world's first all-digital economy, driven by the proliferation of 5G technology, and the continued growth and demand of smart apps, e-commerce, and mobile payments. It is the world's no.1 IoT market.New technologies have paved the way for advancements across several sectors, including healthcare, transportation, energy, and government services. If we, together with strategic partners and investors, can catalyze the shift towards a fully smart ecosystem, we would be able to improve the quality of life for people, as well as create a sustainable way of living to benefit the environment.Smart Cities For Greener, Safer, And Faster LivingWe recognise there is a need to democratize technology access so that more people can benefit from new solutions. But we also have to think bigger. The smart city concept is not new. Pioneering efforts in smart city development were very much about the commercialisation of technology and creating standalone vertical applications. We are now in the phase of smart city 2.0, which is driven by government initiatives and advancements in data sharing, network building, and public engagement. We now look forward to smart city 3.0. In this new world, it is imperative not to innovate in isolation, but to collectively create an integrated system that would enable different players to work seamlessly together. All of the technologies we need to build a smart city exists, butwhat we need to drive this vision forwardis a Smart City OS (operating system)--a solution that would unify different technologies for greater synergies and efficiencies.One simple way to look at it is with transport. Ridesharing service Didi is already experimenting with smart routing through artificial intelligence (AI). What if an app could, through talking to other transport and urban infrastructure services,
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