**Siraj Aziz**, Senior Research Associate
Da Nang is recognized as one of the emerging smart cities in the world. On March 31, 2021, the city was named by the Eden Strategy Institute as one of the 30 best cities, out of more than 230 cities evaluated, to have launched creative and unique smart city initiatives. The institute’s second edition of the Top 50 Smart City Governments report also listed Da Nang as one of the five outstanding smart cities in Asia Pacific.
The report focuses on the role of city governments in propelling smart city development. It examines cities based on various indicators that include leadership, vision, talent readiness, financing, and policy models. Higher ranking indicates a city’s proactive governance in ensuring the effectiveness of smart city technologies. Besides that, on December 18, 2021, Da Nang received the Smart City Award Vietnam – the second time the city won the award that encourages collaboration and innovation in developing livable and sustainable smart cities nationwide.
The city was also honored for its initiatives in smart governance and management, smart healthcare, and smart environment. Da Nang’s continuing progress is, in part, due to its dedicated smart city team at the Department of Information and Communications (DoIC), which monitors and coordinates project collaboration between the city administration, business, research, and industry. The City Municipal Party Committee’s commitment to a participatory approach in its local policymaking, as well as strong political will toward digitalizing city operations to strengthen transparency and accountability, has contributed to the city’s promising position at the domestic and international level.
Omdia believes that grassroot community support and participation from local businesses are some of the key elements that drive smart city adoption in Da Nang.
When residents are part of the smart city movement, it creates a momentum that keeps the conversation going and nurtures more ideas. Through local technology-based incubation programs, cities get ideas and fresh perspectives from innovators while entrepreneurs get a platform to test and market their products and solutions in solving local challenges.
Da Nang Business Incubator (DNES), for instance, is a public-private partnership company that promotes business development and collaboration through innovation startups. As of January 2022, DNES’s incubation program has developed 39 startups, offering a wide range of solutions including an online children’s learning platform, management software for businesses, and an e-commerce platform. DNES’s strong global partner network that comprises 42 public and private partners including Google, Amazon, and Cork Institute of Technology, as well as the governments of Australia and Ireland, has enabled Da Nang startups to have better access to seed funding, training, and mentoring.
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Enabling APAC as a hub of connected intelligence Wilmer Zhou, Senior Consultant, AI & IoT, Omdia Thursday 2 June 2022 | 16:20-17:00