Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics

The HKSAR Government released the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong in December 2017 which maps out development plans in the coming five years by making use of innovation and technology. With the emergence of development of Smart City, the Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics (Smart City Lab) was set-up by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The laboratory aims at developing cutting-edge Smart City and spatial data analytics technologies, translating the developed technologies, and providing Smart City solutions to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

Officiating at the opening ceremony of the laboratory on 20 March 2018 was Prof. Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU. The Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government, Dr David Chung, was the guest-of honour.Prof. Tong and Dr Chung shared the significance and huge demand for innovation and technology in smart city development in Hong Kong and the region. The Smart City Lab would be one catalytic to support long-term development for the Hong Kong and the region.

Prof. John Shi, Director of the Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics and Head of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), shared the research directions and latest outcomes of the state-of-the-art lab.

Summit on Future of Smart City

To mark the opening of the Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics, a summit on the future of smart city was held after the opening ceremony. Organized into 3 sessions, the summit covered themes ranging from Smart Government to Smart Living and Smart Environment to Smart Mobility.Keynote speeches were delivered by three Distinguished Chair Professors of LSGI, namely Prof. Michael Goodchild from the University of California at Santa Barbara, Prof. Michael Batty from University College London, and Prof. Mei Po Kwan from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Representatives from Government, including Development Bureau, Lands Department, Planning Department, Hong Kong Observatory, Civil Engineering and Development Department, Transport Department and Highways Department, Smart City Consortium, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and PolyU gave sharing on Smart City development from their units and aspects and joined the panel discussion moderated by Prof. John Shi followed. Fruitful discussions and sharing were conducted on the related disciplines and the event was well received by the participants with over 200 registrants, including government officials, practitioners, and researchers.

Session 1 Panelists: Prof. Michael Goodchild, Ms Doris Ho, JP, Mr Paul Ng, JP, Mr Silas Liu, & Prof. Yee Leung (form left to right)

Session 2 Panelists: Mr Tam Kwong Hung, Mr Jimmy Chan, JP, Ms Ying Fun-fong, JP, & Prof. Michael Batty (form left to right)

Session 3 Panelists: Mr Charles So, Prof. Anthony Chen, Mr Michael Law,
Prof. Mei-po Kwan & Prof. John Shi (Moderator) (form left to right)

Photos for smart city lab visit during the summit: