Binh Duong is implementing powerful digital transformation to catch up with the trend

In Binh Duong New City, the ceremony to honor the top 7 intelligent communities of the world in 2022 took place successfully. On this occasion, Binh Duong Newspaper had an opportunity to talk with some members of the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) about a number of strategic issues as well as the differences of Binh Duong in developing a smart city. 

Binh Duong is determined to build a smart city, improve people's lives.

Louis Zacharilla, Co-Founder of ICF: It's not just technology, it's about the human interest

I have been believing that the smart city developing strategy of Binh Duong is very good, because it is not just about technology but also cares about the benefits of people. During the discussions, some Vietnamese speakers said that the top concern of strategic planners is the benefits of people. In my opinion, that's the right approach. Binh Duong is growing and becoming a place that many people choose to settle down.

Another noteworthy thing about Binh Duong is that the province is learning experience from other international cities. Provincial leaders and branches came to cities in Taiwan and around the world to learn their experience. Therefore, what sets Binh Duong apart is that while it's not the largest city in the world (in terms of area), it's the best city we've known that is always ready to learn from other cities. And that really helps the development of the province. Provincial leaders are willing to take steps for the future, which is very important.

At the recent Top 7 intelligent communities’ event, we met many speakers around the world, both in person and online. We hope more people around the globe would know about the digital transformation story of Binh Duong and Vietnam. Specifically, Binh Duong is implementing digital transformation in a powerful way to catch up with the world trend, determined to build a smart city, improve people's lives. That's my hope and also why I'm here to make sure that the rest of the world doesn't look at Vietnam in general and Binh Duong in particular as it did 20 years ago but look forward to 20 years in the future.

I can't predict the future but what I can say is that if Binh Duong does the right things in the present, if the province makes the right decisions now for benefits of the people, continue to learn from other cities that have built very good smart cities, It's like learning with a great teacher. If the province is always learning hard and has good policies, the future would be very bright. And obviously, Binh Duong has made a lot of good investments. So I think if the province gets off to a very good start and continues to do so, then the future will be very promising. Remember, life changes very quickly. Therefore, in today's economy, things can change quickly. Therefore, the province must always observe, analyze and use tools to continue developing.

Matthew Owen, Managing Director of ICF, experiences and is interested in a robot "Made by EIU" during a tour of Binh Duong innovation works.

Peter Portheine, Director of Eindhoven-EIPO Project Office: Binh Duong is facing the challenge of transport infrastructure and human resources

I took part in most of the recent talks about transport infrastructure, including roads, waterways and perhaps in the future train connections between Binh Duong and neighboring provinces, heading to Long Thanh International Airport, Dong Nai province, Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, and seaports in Vung Tau. Therefore, the success of Binh Duong depends on the easy transportation connection to these points as well as other logistics centers. The government of Binh Duong province has given priority to improving and building new road and rail connections. Investments are being made to make it easier for people to get to seaports and non-ports, as well as from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Duong and other surrounding localities.

But it's not just physical infrastructure. In the last workshop, we heard a lot about communication over broadband, about communication over the internet. Therefore, we should also focus on how we can best invest in digital infrastructure, such as improving internet acces for all, not just for citizens of the smart city but for people in rural communities. This means that everyone in Binh Duong has access to the internet and gains benefits from these models.

Philipp Riegebauer, Consultant Center for Innovative Energy Systems: It is very interesting as coming to Intelligent Operations Center (IOC)

We made an exciting fact-finding visit to the Intelligent Operations Center (IOC), which serves as the brain and central nervous system of the smart city, integrates and connects information and processes, and provide the foundation for technology, advanced operations and management. I was impressed to see so much data connected. The data after being processed will help improve the situation, harvest the data as well as incorporate into different services for benefits of the city's residents. We also look forward to the next phase after the Covid-19 pandemic, when large amounts of data will be collected. As data processing is implemented, digital transformation will support artificial intelligence (A.I) that further improves services and products for everyone. I think, a few years after the pandemic, with what's being applied here (the IOC), it will be interesting to see what the future pace of development will be.

Binh Duong should continue to provide an innovative ecosystem for city citizens, companies and managers effectively to achieve the same good results as the IOC. Good data processing will play a decisive role in attracting companies as well as people. It is interesting to be able to compare this situation with Germany, when we had many problems once it was impossible to apply broadband communication in the countryside, even though Germany is a highly industrialized country. That forces us to keep working to improve the situation. I'm very impressed with what's being done here and look forward to the next step.

Reported by P.Le, Q.Tri – Translated by Ngoc Huynh