8th Asia Smart City Conference

TDLC is an active participant of Yokohama’s Asia Smart City Conference, an international conference bringing together Asian city leaders and representatives from international organizations, academic institutions, and private companies. At this conference, city leaders shared their vision for growth as well as their current challenges and needs; private companies and academic institutions proposed innovative solutions; and international organizations offered programs to support efforts by cities and private companies. In addition, best practices around the world were shared as case models of smart city development. TDLC led a panel discussion on disruptive technology and city development. Leading Japanese cities from TDLC’s City Partnership Program (Fukuoka, Kobe, Kitakyushu, and Yokohama) introduced their recent initiatives using conventional solutions to urban challenges, along with solutions using disruptive technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Based on the presentations, participants discussed the possibilities and challenges of implementing disruptive technologies in city development. TDLC also made presentations in several panel discussion sessions including the “Role of Knowledge Hub for Smart Urban Solutions” and the closing panel.