Smart transportation has seen rapid development, and a variety of connected in-vehicle applications have also emerged. As an example of how complex transportation logistics could be, Van Lin, Director of In-Vehicle Computing Product Division at Advantech, explained how the Munich Airport in Germany must support a variety of modes of transportation, such as shuttle buses, luggage carriers, tank filling trucks, and forklifts. In addition, cities require vehicles used in emergency rescue operations and ports need smart transportation management. In-vehicle systems must be in place to provide real-time information management during the entire logistics process, from containers arriving at the port to goods distributed to warehouses and delivered to retail stores.Services will take up 60% of the smart vehicle market, while hardware and software licensing will take up the other 40%. While Taiwanese in-vehicle vendors have great opportunities to cut into the market, Van Lin reminded vendors they need to be aware of regional market differences. In Europe, the US, and Australia, demand for digital logistics and fleet management is similar, as these markets place a high priority on managing driver behavior and monitoring all vehicle information. Therefore, mid-range and high-end in-vehicle computers are becoming more popular. In the Asia-Pacific region, however, demand has focused on navigation and vehicle dispatch solutions, and in-vehicle computers are usually replaced by low cost black boxes. Therefore, vendors cannot introduce their solutions for the western market directly into the Asia-Pacific market.While some vendors have focused on logistics and some on fleet management, Van Lin said Advantech provides one-stop shopping solutions which cover delivery from ports to retail stores. The company provides in-vehicle computers for all kinds of transportation. Advantech's in-vehicle products fall into two series, one for on-road vehicles (such as bus, truck, logistics truck, and road rescue vehicle), and the other for off-road vehicles (such as mine carts, forklift trucks, and farm cultivators). Advantech also expects to provide complete in-vehicle computers or value-added services for fleet management vendors such as tire pressure management, in vehicle video analysis, and voice recognition systems. Real-time in vehicle video analysis can detect distance to the front car, handling blind spots, passengers, and lane departure, thereby enhancing driving safety.The use of GPS data should not be restricted to fleet management, positioning, or tracking, said Van Lin. Instead, the focus must be placed on driver behavior management. Take the US for example. Managing gas consumption, vehicle maintenance, and disaster cost control will only be effective when driver behavior management is applied. The computer must act as a driving instructor. When the driver drives in a strange way or shifts gears incorrectly, the computer will inform the driver that penalty points have been posted to his/her driving record. Instead of waiting for the data to arrive and then send it to backend servers for analysis, the fleet management system should remind the driver of any violations immediately to effectively regulate the driver's behavior. Through effective data collection and real-time management, the system can send maintenance warnings beforehand to prevent unexpected breakdowns, thereby achieving more efficient control of gas consumption and reduction of carbon emissions.Before smart logistics solutions are introduced to warehouse applications, staff must provide printed inventory records for forklift truck operators to check stock and shipments. The data will then be entered to the computer by office staff. Since the printed data is updated every two hours and must be entered into the system in the office, the process may cause shipment delays. What's worse, the front-end department has to wait for the data to be uploaded before they can find out whether the goods are ready for shipment or in shortage. After the introduction of smart logistics solutions, forklift truck operators can enter stock and shipment data directly to the in-vehicle computer, allowing the front-end department to send shipment notifications two hours ahead of time, making shipments more efficient.The automobile industry has placed a high emphasis on real-time logistics. By integration RFID systems with the LES (Logistics Execution System), the system can detect material consumption automatically and replenish the materials when they are running low. Computer-controlled unmanned vehicles will then ship the components to the assembly station via specific routes, enhancing work efficiency significantly.Van Lin used smart buses as another example. Among other public transportation options, smart bus systems can generate the highest return on investment and can enhance the quality of life of urban populations as soon as systems are implemented. Therefore, many cities have deemed smart bus systems as key projects. By introducing smart vehicle solutions to buses, the system can reduce gas consumption and prevent any corruption coming from bus drivers. The solutions can also create new revenues. For example, evaluating the effect of bus ads is much easier than ads in other places as the bus company can find out how many people have seen the ads from the bus camera. With the help of mobile apps, such as encouraging passengers to input a certain number in the ads to win a free ride, passengers will be more likely to pay attention to the ads.Smart systems can also be applied to police cars to help the police maintain public safety. Besidesvideo analysis solutions, the police also need data mobility. For example, the design of a tablet PC in the car must enable the police to retrieve the tablet with one hand in a split second since police may needs to carry the tablet outside of the vehicle at a moment's notice.Connected cars play a key role in the age of Internet of Things (IoT). A smart city must meet different demands such as smart buses; however, not only product offering but also business models can be challenging. For example, a smart bus requires the combination of various peripheral equipment and software (such as tire pressure detection sensors, cameras, and voice control software). It is impossible for Advantech to cover everything from development to manufacturing, says Van Lin. Therefore, Advantech hopes to form partnerships with more peripheral equipment vendors and share the market or customer base with its partners. Advantech will authenticate the quality of the peripheral equipment internally before providing it to global customers. By constructing an ecosystem with intelligent fleet management solutions in collaboration with its global partners, Advantech hopes to achieve win-win results.Van Lin, Director of In-Vehicle Computing Product Division at Advantech

As the cloud services and smart city concepts mature, the consumers' shopping behaviors have also gradually been transformed. For retailers, in addition to improving service performances through establishing point of sales (POS) systems, the POS systems have also been transformed from simple sales applications to those combined with more intelligent value-added applications as well as vertically integrated with various operators or services to provide better shopping experiences through the smart POS.As the smart city concept continues to mature, the POS applications that are meant to improve the sales process have also begun to undergo smart qualitative changes. CH Wu, Vice President, Intelligent Service Business Group, Advantech, indicated that the value of the POS equipment that previously focused on the retail end of e-support has continued to increase in lie with smartization. Smart function integration can serve as a tool to maintain consumer loyalty and combine cloud services to provide more value-added services to retailers.The Number of Embedded Devices has Exploded and Become the New Portal for Smart DevicesWu indicated that there will be an estimated 1.9 billion computer systems, 2.6 billion mobile phone devices, and 25 billion embedded devices worldwide by 2020. Compared to the global population, 2.6 billion mobile phones are far lower the number of people in the world, but those who own mobile phones almost have two per person. Some analysts even estimate that the number of embedded smart devices may even exceed 50 billion units.Under the smart city boom and the development of the corresponding Internet of Things (IoT) applications, smart devices are everywhere in our lives and embedded devices have become an unstoppable trend. So, how would they affect our lives? Wu indicated that a significant amount of smart devices are connected to an even bigger number of devices through the IoT, and the industry is provided with a foundation to develop innovative application services whereby the software and hardware are combined through the cloud services under the smart city boom. Against such a backdrop, it is most imperative for industry players to work out ways to combine their software and hardware into smart application services for the smart city.In the Future, Smart Devices Will Become Ubiquitous in Our LivesUnder the condition where a significant number of smart devices have penetrated our living environment, the coverage of smart devices has far exceeded that of the IT equipment or products in the past and has enabled more people to receive services from smart devices. No matter where they are - on a bus, in the hospital, or in a store - people in a smart city can obtain the required services through the smart devices and embedded computing equipment. This also illustrates the importance of the innovative value-added services created through the vertical integration of the different industries in a smart city.The key IoT network technology used to construct the smart city information network will also create more innovative value-added services from the interconnectivity between and integration of the devices. This will also force a significant amount of business models to shift towards smartization. In terms of the retail industry, how online-to-offline (O2O) operations are conducted or how sales can be combined with online services, will affect the consumers' shopping habits and behaviors. During the "iPlanet Paradigm Shift" for the next decade, the anticipated trend for the future of smart cities is that "services" will replace "products" as the mainstream needs. Under the smart city trend, various industrial solutions will also flourish in smart cities and the interconnection as well as integration of smart devices will produce innovative services that can dramatically change the existing modes of operation for various industries.Corresponding Qualitative Changes for the Retail Sector under the Smart City DevelopmentAccording to a 2014 report issued by the Retail Tech Sales on 4,100 different retailers' investments on IT equipment in 2014, 38% will invest in traditional POS, 48% in mobile POS, and 39% in non-POS hardware. It is estimated that the investments in non-POS will be used to create value-added integration for mobile applications. Analyzing the software investment data, the same research report indicates that POS software investments still account for the largest part at 44%, while 44% of the investments will be in mobile POS software. The results show that the retail sector has begun to increase their investments in mobile applications.The increase of consumers' mobility indicates that data flow for the consumer environment has become smoother. However, the increasing number of available information channels for the consumers also means reduced consumer loyalty. The more smart city applications are available, the more complicated for the retailers to conduct marketing and maintain consumer loyalty. Therefore, how to retain the customers and attract them to the store and do shopping has become critical issues for the retail industry.The Smart POS Investment: From Reducing Spending to Expanding ResourcesThe retail industry's paradigm shift under the smart city boom indicates that focus on investment in constructing POS has been gradually transitioning from how labor costs can be reduced to how more business opportunities can be created. For example, the retail sector has focused on how to reduce expenditure in the past, but the retail trend has begun to shift the focus to looking for more resources and conducting effective marketing operations to stimulate demand. The sudden changes in the retailers' investment ratios confirm the fact that the industry has started to pay attention to this future trend.In this wave of smartization, POS has also moved towards the direction of constant evolution to keep up with the smart retail trends. For example, the new generation of intelligent POS can already be integrated with the cloud services, transaction automation, promotions anytime, and MI collection; they can also support near field communication (NFC), multi-touch screens, multi-network connectivity, remote access, cloud services, etc., in terms of technical integration.Major POS Industries in Europe Invest Heavily to Change the Shopping ExperiencesWu has attended the largest exhibition (EuroShop) in Europe recently and found that the major manufacturers that provide corresponding smart retailer solutions have begun to shift their product concepts towards smartization and mobililty. Many industry players have shifted the focus of their products or solution R&D to enhancing the consumer experiences in virtual stores. How to give consumers better and more timely shopping experiences has become the focus of development for the retail solutions providers. As a smart retail solutions provider, Advantech has established a variety of smart retail service solutions that can satisfy the consumers' demands.For example, Advantech has introduced smart POS retail service solutions, digital signage systems, and a new generation of smart kiosk equipment that can integrate the membership system, smart monitoring system, cloud-based central monitoring, and remote data analysis, etc. Advantech's products and solutions are better than those created by others behind closed doors without knowing what customers need. Advantech knows that it must have a deep understand of what applications the customers want in order to satisfy their needs through a variety of smart technologies and hardware integrations.Wu indicated that Advantech has various product lines, such as the traditional POS, kiosks, and digital signage products that will satisfy the demand for system integration, as well as basic applications and cloud service support solutions with hardware-software integration. In addition to industrial computers, the company's other products include the queuing systems that are popular in China, and smart POS systems. For chain store solutions, there are integrated POS systems that can integrate the central management functions; they can even perform value-added remote management and analysis. In Taiwan, Advantech's solutions have been adopted by the management of Taipei 101, Far Eastern shopping malls, Din Tai Fung dumpling houses, and Giant bicycle stores.CH Wu, Vice President, Intelligent Service Business Group, Advantec

Continued innovations in front-end sensor technology, cloud computing, and cloud service technology within the Internet of Things (IoT) sector have contributed to an increasing amount of related applications that can be successfully adopted in transportation and city traffic control systems. According to Roger Shyu, Manager, Axiomtek Co., Ltd., humans continue to pursue technological improvements in order to make their lives more convenient, hence there will be increased emphasis on smart traffic controls.A complex road traffic network relies on a comprehensive traffic control system. The server room in the control center is crucial, as it contains equipment that collects and monitors various data used to assist users analyze traffic conditions and optimize traffic efficiency. Shyu noted that the server room environmental monitoring system can ensure that the server room operates efficiently; for example, under irregular circumstances, the system will inform technicians via text message or using digital signage. Hence the server room environmental monitoring system has become a key component in the core competence of smart traffic control.As for addressing other traffic-related data monitoring issues, Shyu added that Axiomtek provides various solutions that target applications such as highway electronic toll collection system, display of traffic conditions, and license plate recognition. Fanless, high-efficiency, expandability and compact are four key characteristics to the hardware and software solutions of intelligent transportation system. For example, Axiomtek's IPC932 industrial computer system is designed with two swappable hard drives and from two to six expansion slots, and as well as different selections of processors to accommodate particular needs. In addition, the size of the system is about the size of a shoebox.Other than smart traffic control for roads, there are also many important applications for controlling traffic on railways. Functions such as digital monitoring and multimedia broadcasting allow driver to monitor conditions inside the train, display traffic information to passengers and provide engineers/conductors with information regarding the internal physical environment and traffic conditions.Shyu cited the Axiomtek tBOX as an example of a system used to meet the needs of digitally monitoring railway traffic and ensuring safety. In an environment where track conditions can be unstable, the hard drives, as well as the I/O ports, need to be securely locked to prevent them from loosening. This also means that the system needs to be shock-proof, tolerate a wide-range of temperature fluctuations (exterior environment temperatures change significantly during rail journeys) and comprehensive interface design (the need to securely lock ports) are some major areas emphasized when developing railway digital monitoring applications. The system also needs to provide functions such as wireless transmission and obtain EN50155, EN50121 (railway vehicles) and EN45545 certifications.For license plate monitoring system solutions, Shyu noted that the Axiomtek rBOX is compact and has been designed to tolerate a wide range of temperatures, which means the system can be installed and operated in small areas where there is no air flow. If the system is connected to the search system of a vehicle that has been stolen, the theft can be reported and the license plate number given to related authorities.In addition, through license plate recognition, smart traffic monitoring systems can calculate travel time for individual vehicles and help drivers determine the best route by providing information regarding possible alternative routes. In addition to installing systems at highway entrances and exits, license plate recognition systems can also be installed in building parking lots to achieve smart parking management by determining which vehicle is allowed to enter.Shyu noted that the Axiomtek rBOX smart traffic system is a solution for managing and monitoring road conditions or traffic lights. The rBOX system has a wide range of temperature tolerance, as it can operate effectively in negative 40 degrees to positive 70 degrees Celsius environments. The system is small in size and can be installed using a DIN-rail or mounted on a wall. This allows the system to be installed in small electric circuit boxes or telecommunication cabinets.Furthermore, the Axiomtek rBOX traffic monitoring system has low power-consumption and can operate with power generated from solar panels. The Axiomtek rBOX adopts dual power inputs so if one power source acts irregularly, the system will automatically switch to power from the other power source to ensure stable operations. Using separate I/O interfaces, the system can avoid disturbances. In addition, the fanless, cableless system is designed to prevent system failure due to a fan malfunction, loosening of wires, and/or a short circuit, thus increasing the reliability and stability of the system.In various smart applications, many solutions focus on hardware specifications such as CPUs and memory capacity, but in fact, to achieve smartness, the hardware needs help from software to further integrate and strengthen the combined hardware/software technology.Using a remote monitoring system called AXView as an example; Shyu explained that AXview adopts the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), which allows users to monitor remotely from anywhere and through any device, using the Internet. With the alert function, users can set up the system based on specific needs and the system will automatically send out alerts via e-mail or text when irregularities arise. AXView allows users to observe the conditions of different equipment at the same time. For example, users can monitor the frequency of central processors, the speed of the fan, the temperature of the environment and the connectivity of peripherals. If the system has been disconnected, AXView allows users to send in personnel for immediate repair.AXView can monitor more than one system by inserting the IP addresses. If the equipment is experiencing situations such as overheated in temperature, unstable in voltage level, disconnection, and immobile fans, the system will automatically send a notification to the user's device. If more than one department needs to know the condition of the equipment, AXView can connect multiple users to multiple systems, using a mailing system to inform each individual when irregularities occur.Shyu stated that the industrial monitoring market is highly competitive and each firm needs to find its own "blue ocean" to continue reaching higher goals. Axiomtek aims to vertical market and get international certification for these products. In the future, Axiomtek will continue to introduce various smart traffic control solutions to provide cities with more convenient traffic control and monitoring applications.Roger Shyu, Manager, Axiomtek Co., Ltd.

Following the student-led Sunflower protests which lasted about 20 days, most people in Taiwan have come to appreciate the police's hard work on the frontline, as well as the capability of the ever-changing technologies that enabled Internet users to quickly organize demonstrations, adding burdens to police work. The new-generation police have to control and integrate various technological tools to facilitate crime investigation and prevention.Fortunately, the resources coming from Taiwan's National Police Agency have been a great help enabling local police to adopt technological tools in recent years. Such help has also been coming from local governments' devotion to constructing smart cities, in which smart systems for police administration play a part.An official from the New Taipei City Police Department, speaking at the recent Smart City Forum organized by Digitimes, discussed the local police's experience in building technology-enabled security systems for the city. Su Ching-Wei, Chief of Information Management Office, New Taipei City Police Department (NTPD), noted that nowadays the police provide the public with 24-hour services all year long, services that can be classified into:1. Crime fighting - crackdown on crimes and their prevention; 2. Traffic safety - safety around important road intersections, child pick-up zones, as well as school areas; 3. Public security - a duty to make the public feel safe.The general public in Taiwan usually dial "110" immediately to report a case, even though the case may not fall into the jurisdiction of the police. Therefore It is important to make good use of the smart police administration to enhance police performance and their relationships with the general public.New Taipei City has a vast territory with a population as many as 3.9 million. Each police officer serves at least 500 people on average, the highest ratio among the five biggest cities in Taiwan. The amount of pressure is conceivable. An NT$1.3 billion budget has been allocated so far based on a SWOT analysis since four years ago to develop a city with a smart police administration, and technology-based security systems. The planned framework involves an expert databases, geographic information systems, M-Police mobile devices, traffic law enforcement and service systems, "110" duty command systems, public security surveillance systems, intelligent image recognition systems, police-civilian joint-security systems, scanning technologies and forensic science, incorporating the real-time information of an incident with existing systems to make the police services more accessible to the public.Su noted that expert databases in the framework can assist technology-enabled surveillance and crackdowns on crimes. In addition, basic geographic information systems can be combined to enable future expansion. M-Police, a handheld mobile device specially designed for police officers, is IP-65 certified with shatterproof, shockproof and waterproof features, enabling connection to the back-end system database while officers conduct spot checks. It also supports face recognition systems enabling searches for missing people and increasing clearance rates. Traffic law enforcement and service systems, as well as "110" command systems play an important role as well. Police stations have installed many surveillance cameras at road intersections. With a climbing rate of the general public requesting access to such surveillance footage, intelligent video surveillance should be incorporated to ease officers' burdens in the future.The implementation of this project covers the traffic division, command center, public security division, criminal investigation division and forensic science center in the police department. Su believed that the key to success of this system lies in the extent of integration. It is unlike the conventional closed systems. Police officers at different units are able to acquire necessary information and provide faster services after the integration of all systems.Integrating demands from police divisions to speed up fundamental servicesFor example, "The Plan of Information Services for Public Security Management and Decision," which is led by the information office, consists of an intelligence integration center, data storage platforms, geographic information systems for criminal data, visualized crime analysis software, intelligence integration and analytic systems for public security, educational trainings for technology-enabled crime prevention and investigation. The data storage platforms can successfully integrate data produced by the police and information provided by the public to further analyze images, or in combination with GIS, to enable correlation analysis, crime prevention and investigation, and predictions, without any breach of personal privacy."The Plan of E-Camera and Surveillance Center" implemented by the public security division helps install and optimize surveillance systems constantly in the vast New Taipei City. Meanwhile, the plan to introduce an ordinance for the management of public security surveillance systems has been made to protect personal privacy. Judging from the statistics for the period between 2008 and 2013, the crime clearance rates showed an upward trend in line with the growth in the number of installations of such surveillance systems."The Plan of Enhancement of Professional Abilities in Crime Investigation and Science," which is supported by the criminal investigation division and forensic science center, seeks to renew the digital forensics laboratories and technology-enabled crime investigation units, as well as improving forensic equipment. Meanwhile, the quality of forensic personnel and the functions of forensic databases are enhanced to tackle the growing problem of cybercrime effectively. It has facilitated the investigation of 90 items of cybercrime evidence this year, accelerating criminal investigation and raising conviction rates.As many transportation units have installed sensors in the public, a traffic information convergence platform, established under "The Plan of Electronic Systems for Traffic Law Enforcement and Services," integrates the transportation department's CCTV system, the Police Broadcasting Service's real-time traffic information system, information from the National Freeway Bureau, New Taipei City Maintenance Office and Institute of Transportation, MOTC. The integrated information is transferred to the traffic division's command center, where assigned personnel are in charge of monitoring the traffic for quick discovery, response and handling. This platform, which is the first-ever installed in Taiwan, aims at enabling smooth traffic flows, according to Su, and it is capable of integrating traffic information like that of car accidents, traffic violations, and others such as construction sites, events, river levels and rainfalls. It also utilizes rankings of congested roads, car speeds, police cars' positions and CCTV to direct traffic effectively to avoid traffic jams."The Plan of Improving '110' Investigation and Surveillance Integrated System" is deployed to link crossroads surveillance systems, enhance the functions of reporting systems, integrate geographic information systems, optimize GPS platforms and finally incorporate the iPolice app. When the "110" reporting system receives a report from the public, relevant information and the location of the caller will be displayed so the operator can dispatch relevant personnel to the location displayed on GIS; real-time crossroads imaging systems and GPS are used to control the situations at the scene and enable police officers' handling of them. The iPolice app, which has updated to the 3.0 version, supports the speed dial function for three public service hotlines: the nationwide "165" anti-fraud hotline, the "110" reporting and positioning hotline and the "113" women and children protection hotline. Specific features such as video reporting and push technology are included as well.It is worth noting that New Taipei City was selected out of 140 cities around the world as one of the cities in IBM's "Smarter Cities Challenge" exchange program in 2013. Su said he asked IBM to identify the key elements constituting smart cities, and received the answer: smart cities must be "instrumented," "interconnected" and "intelligent." New Taipei City was chosen for the IBM exchange because it met all three criteria.Su Ching-Wei, Chief of Information Management Office, New Taipei City Police Department (NTPD)

In the past several years, various cities and counties in Taiwan have actively participated in the ICF's Intelligent Community Awards and have continually done well, showing that Taiwan's efforts and accomplishments in building smart cities have won recognition from global experts. The "Taoyuan Core Aerotropolis Project" that the government is currently working on will further demonstrate to the world Taiwan's ICT capabilities as well as its industrial and economic prowess.In a competitive global environment that emphasizes speed, efficiency, and low-cost, Taoyuan's Aerotropolis will not only act as a hub for connecting Taiwan with the rest of the world, but will also be a driving force for Taiwan's smart city industry.Taking Advantage of its Strengths in the ICT Industry, Taiwan Engages in the Development of Smart Cities to Create Industrial Restructuring OpportunitiesMen-Feng Wu, Administrative Deputy Minister, MOTC, points out that ever since IBM proposed the "Smarter Planet" concept, infrastructures and industrial applications related to smart cities have virtually become a must-have component for national construction projects as well as economic and industrial development policies.Guided by the Golden Decade National Vision, the Taoyuan Core Aerotropolis Project is the flagship project of the government's Maritime and Aviation Hub initiative, which will drive Taiwan's economic restructuring and boost economic development. The Taoyuan Aerotropolis is not only Taiwan's largest regional smart city construction project, but also a key driver and indicator of the evolution and restructuring of Taiwan's ICT industry.The management and judging for the global Intelligent Community Awards is currently carried out by the ICF (Intelligent Community Forum). The ICF, established in 1985, became an independent organization in 2004. The ICF was founded by the nonprofit organization WTA (World Teleport Association), and includes members from over 40 countries and regions, including Canada, the United States, France, England, Russia, and Japan.Men-Feng Wu points out that in this global wave of smart city development, many of Taiwan's counties and cities have actively participated in ICF's Intelligent Community Awards, and they continue to do well, proving that Taiwan not only has developmental advantages in the field of ICT, but under cooperative efforts between government and industry, Taiwan's achievements in terms of smart city development have also won recognition from global experts.The Government Actively Pushes Forward the Taoyuan Smart Aerotropolis ProjectWu states that in order to achieve the construction and services goals of smart cities, we need help from next-generation IT technologies. For example, by taking advantage of the Internet, IoT, cloud computing, the integration between mobile devices and smart terminal equipment, as well as 4G mobile broadband, we can build complete smart living environments through the establishment of highly intelligent applications. Wu stresses that the various ICT software/hardware equipment requirements of smart cities, as well as the range of diverse innovative services created when architectural integration is carried out, have a chance to bring explosive growth to Taiwan's economy and tech industry.Taiwan Once Caught on to the Wave of the Global PC Boom and Will Again Climb to the Top of the Global Industry amid the Smart City BoomIn the 1980s, Taiwan successfully caught on to the wave of the global PC boom, allowing it to lay a solid foundation in the technology industry, which not only created impressive economic growth for Taiwan, but also built Taiwan into a globally renowned "Computer Kingdom" and "Tech Island."Wu also states that for Taiwan, smart cities are not only the key to the restructuring of the PC and technology industries, but also an opportunity for its manufacturing and services sectors to provide value-added services using the IoT and cloud computing. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, the government will have to work closely with the private sector, and companies will have to engage in tight communication as well as interaction with consumers. Development of the smart city industry will be the best opportunity for Taiwan to develop and transform itself since the PC boom.Combining Resources from Industry, Government, Academia, as well as Research Institutions to Explore the Needs of Users in terms of Smart ServicesTaiwan's industries must maintain a grasp on the development of the global smart city boom and strive to keep up with its pace. Furthermore, Taiwan's industries, government, as well as academia should look into what the true needs of users are, allowing smart cities to include even more value-added user-friendly applications instead of just being "smart," thereby marching one step further to creating intelligent cities.From a practical perspective, smart cities will bring economic productivity, more room for industrial development and innovation, as well as even more opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship. From a cultural perspective, smart cities are an attitude toward life as well as an evolution of the mindsets of the general public, representing a quantum leap forward in terms of urban culture, cultural exchange, and the environment around us.Wu further states that if all of Taiwan's industries could break through the simple production and contract manufacturing models of the past and evolve into total solutions and services providers, a new era would be created for Taiwan's smart city industry, allowing consumers as well as the general public to enjoy the convenience, comfort, and safety brought about by smart services in the communications, transportation, shipping, law enforcement, tourism, consumer, education, and healthcare sectors.Men-Feng Wu, Administrative Deputy Minister, MOTC

ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) have become an important component of smart cities in recent years. Huel-Sheng Tsay, Commissioner, Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Government, noted that ITS productively integrate and utilize advanced information technologies, information/communication transfer, electronic sensors, artificial intelligence and computer processing in transportation and management systems, enhancing the efficiency of system resource usage and system security, and reducing consumption and environmental pollution.Characteristics of 3 major ITS fieldsITS can be further defined into APTS (Advanced Public Transportation Systems), ATIS (Advanced Traveler Information Systems), and ATMS (Advanced Transportation Management Systems). Tsay said that development in these three fields has thrived and exceeded original estimates, becoming a defining component of smart cities.In the development of urbanization and informatization, six characteristics consisting of smart economy, smart people, smart governance, smart mobility, smart environment and smart living need to be addressed as traditional cities migrate to smart cities, said Tsay. The sustainability, innovation and safety of transportation systems bring significant convenience to citizens in terms of smart mobility.Nevertheless, a single plan cannot be applied for every smart city. Tsay suggested that each smart city needs to optimize its expertise and identify features upon which to target enhancement. For instance, Yokohama in Japan has employed colors to represent traffic congestion on electronic maps, and even supports road images on GPS. This function could not be achieved five years ago, but it operates well today.In addition, the timetable of the Tokyo Monorail, which also supports multiple languages in a timely way, can be accessed at the Tokyo Haneda Airport. Highway conditions are also provided to help drivers to judge road conditions.Tsay believes that as an ITS reaches the end of its development, it is crucial that that system makes the public feel that information has been provided in a convenient way. For example, time to reach a destination can be provided at rest stops. Available and accurate information, which relies on comprehensive fundamental infrastructure in which backend systems provide necessary and accurate information, must be available. Thus if there is a car accident, systems are capable of showing the distance it will take to run into a traffic jam.Take safe driving support for example, ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) can be adopted to prevent cars from crashing head-on, but an alarm system which sets off in advance while sensing obstacles ahead should be included in transportation infrastructure so as to cooperate with crash prevention auxiliary braking systems, avoiding collisions one intersection ahead.The construction of fundamental infrastructure for displaying information in real-time, ranging from available seats on trains, rental bikes available, road conditions, etc., is never easy. In the example of digital signage on roads, in addition to displaying accurate information, the ability to endure harsh weather conditions should also be taken into consideration.Tsay gave an example of ITS in Taipei. The fundamental infrastructure involves roadside devices and ICT, and can be divided into a service-side and management-side. On the management-side, open data is adopted by systems that assist civilians; this includes apps, websites, voice services and roadside devices, such as the Taipei Good to Go and Taipei Good to Park apps, as well as numerous apps developed by the public.City public transportation systems are intimately connected.As for the development of public transportation infrastructure in the Taipei Metropolitan area, the Taipei Metro and shuttle buses form a road network with each performing its duty. The Taipei Metro acts as the bones of transportation, targeting large volumes and punctuality. Aside from coordinating with different shuttle buses, the first and last mile rely on walking, public bikes, community buses and taxis to form a complete and convenient public service.There is still plenty of room for improvement to make a better ITS, as noted by Tsay. For instance, computer signage systems have evolved from being controlled by mainframe computers to PCs. However, if systems show that parking space is still available but drivers cannot find a space, or if a bus does not arrive by its estimated time, consumers are not pleased. The design of ITS needs to be more subtle, and include not only a framework but also accurate information.In the future, more automated ATIS, including the installation of devices on all buses, increasing the amount of traffic control devices such as car detection devices, CCTV monitors and software, as well as real-time parking space monitoring services, will be offered in Taipei. Given that communication technologies will mature, mobile devices will become more prevalent. In the future, more convenient services will be offered to the public through the Taipei real-time ATIS and Taipei Good to Go app.In Tsay's opinion, Taipei still has a lot of opportunities for further enhancement compared to Japan. In February 2009, Taipei started accepting requests from organizations to interlink with its real-time ATIS database in order to provide diverse services. Currently, there are 105 interlinking organizations, 74 services and products, and peak monthly inquiries have exceeded 75.22 million.Concerning the application of ATMS, traffic control systems transfer related information to the traffic control center through roadside devices including cameras, car detection devices, changeable information boards and intersection signage boards, in order to implement traffic monitoring, sign management, as well as collect and analyze traffic information. The goal is to lower the impact of traffic accidents, enhance road transport efficiency, and further increase the quality of ATMS.As for the construction of the Taipei Metro, Tsay forecast that daily volume could peak at two million after the Songshan line enters service, delivering a great improvement on traffic and air pollution in Taipei. As a matter of fact, the management of the Taipei Metro has become an Asia paragon. As Tsay indicated, Taipei used to learn from Hong Kong and Singapore, but now the situation has reversed. The Taipei Metro's performance, especially in train intervals, has impressed Singapore a lot.Tsay emphasized that the development of ITS has had a dramatic change on convenience, safety and accessibility in people's daily life, as well as enabling more user-friendly infrastructure/devices, generating a lot of added value and increasing quality of life. For the future, development will look to ways of providing information regarding specific accidents in a timely way to reduce injuries and deaths.Huel-Sheng Tsay, Commissioner, Department of Rapid Transit Systems, Taipei City Government

The roadmap to smart cities illustrates that intelligent networking infrastructures connected through the Internet of Things (IoT) can lead to the convergence of next-generation information and communications technologies (ICT), changing ways of life and the environment while creating convenience for residents. The implementation of smart city initiatives not only requires collaboration among the government, the ICT industry and individuals, but also relies on practical needs that people have to uncover smart city opportunities.In the future, services arising from smart city development will bring revolutionary changes to the environment, modes of working and social systems. Innovative services that use intelligent, automated technologies will be applied to all facets of urban life - transportation, public safety and emergency management, tourism and retail, smart buildings, production monitoring and healthcare - thereby enabling convenient and secure lives for residents. At the Digitimes Smart City Forum, business, government and academic representatives came together to exchange ideas and to provide their in-depth analyses of the latest developments and trends of smart city development.Digitimes Smart City Forum: A platform for business, government and academic representatives to share insights into smart city developmentThe Digitimes Smart City Forum was co-organized by the Taiwan Intelligent Aerotropolis Association, the Smart Network System Institute under the Institute for Information Industry, and DIGITIMES. The event's corporate partners were Chunghwa Telecom, Tatung, Advantech, NXP Semiconductors, ADLINK Technology, Axiomtek, Cisco Systems (Taiwan), Fortune Information Systems, HwaCom Systems, Merit LILIN Enterprise, Macronix International, NTT Taiwan, VIVOTEK, Taiwan Mobile and the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) . The event featured sessions from these leading global and local corporations discussing key technologies involved with smart city initiatives, the applications of such technologies, and how they could help smart cities move from vision to implementation.A key feature of a smart city is to leverage the latest ICT to connect electric grids, water supply, public transport, oil and gas, energy distribution and buildings through the IoT powered by a variety of embedded sensing components and intelligent devices. A connected infrastructure is then incorporated with intelligence service solutions, via various application platforms or the sharing and reuse of information, to develop and implement intelligent urban life models through a wide range of convenient and technology-enabled services.Collaboration between industries and government integral to smart city development with diverse industries InvolvedAccording to the roadmap, industries involved in smart city development span the fields of telecommunications, finance, transportation, public safety and emergency services, tourism and retail, smart buildings, production monitoring and healthcare, and others. A diverse range of technologies is utilized, including IoT, embedded computing, intelligent devices, wearable electronics, monitoring equipment and back-end networking equipment, at high levels of complexity.Moreover, the alignment of government policy support, inputs of industrial resources and service opportunities is crucial for intelligent, automated technology-enabled service models to deliver the kinds of smart services that really benefit people and create the experience of enhanced convenience and security.Taiwan's municipalities earn top spots in global smart city rankingsSmart city development is becoming a crucial element of national infrastructure projects and economic and industry development worldwide. Over the past few years, municipalities in Taiwan have earned top spots on the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) Smart21 list in recognition of its outstanding performance in smart city initiatives by an international panel of experts.In Taiwan, Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan County, Hsinchu City and Taichung City have made ICF's smart-city short list, highlighting these municipalities as benchmarks of achievements in smart city initiatives. Moreover, smart city development in association with the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project will commence soon, and 4G LTE services are expected to be launched in the third quarter of 2014 following auctions of 4G licenses in 2013. As these developments further enhance Taiwan's telecommunications networks, the evolvement of networking infrastructure and mobile data communications technologies play a critical role in determining whether smart services can be successfully applied to different areas of life. Meanwhile, the development of a wide range of facilities and infrastructures under way is laying the groundwork for future success in Taiwan's smart city initiatives.Smart city development offers opportunities for Taiwan's ICT industry to drive structural transformationAt the DIGITMES Smart City Forum, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications provided an in-depth analysis into the government's role in smart city development. DIGITMES also discussed examples of smart city leaders in North Europe, noting that Taiwan is well-positioned to become a laboratory for smart city development given its competitive edge of a concentration of IoT-related sectors and technology expertise.The event gathered telecom carriers, manufacturers of surveillance equipment and networking equipment, system integrators, sensing component designers and embedded system providers to discuss the latest development of and technological advancement in key industries involved with smart city initiatives. The companies also gave their views on the technological issues and the changing global dynamics of such initiatives.An overview of global smart city initiatives shows that the government's leadership role in shaping and implementing policies, and collaboration among residents, business leaders and city officials are critical factors for enabling smart city development and broadening the scope of smart applications. Against a backdrop of maturing smart services and applications, people are becoming more aware of the benefits provided by smart cities to make life more convenient. Increasing public awareness, coupled with government-led efforts to advance innovative applications and promote cooperation across industries, is accelerating the pace of smart city development in Taiwan. If successful, this may also help Taiwan's ICT industry make progress towards structural transformation.The Digitimes Smart City Forum is packed with participants. The forum, which took place April 16-17, 2014, was co-organized by the Taiwan Intelligent Aerotropolis Association, the Smart Network System Institute under the Institute for Information Industry, and Digitimes.

Northern Europe can be seen as a pioneering region and offers the most successful example of the development of global smart cities. Local governments actively engage in construction projects including informatization, implementing mature unmanned stations, managing offshore construction and developing fjord tunnels. Taiwan, as the key hub for global ICT (information and communications technology) R&D and manufacturing, can elevate itself to become a shining example of an Asia smart city leader by using the experience of northern Europe's smart cities as an example to follow.Colley Hwang, president of Digitimes, noted that while Taiwan's media has mostly been focusing its coverage on the recent student protests, Hwang traveled to northern Europe to uncover insights into the region's success with the aim of sharing his observations with players from Taiwan industry. While industry leaders, government officials and university professors are proactively laying out strategies for the development of smart cities, the development of Taiwan's smart cities will also have northern Europe's successful experience as a reference.Talking about his experience regarding northern Europe, Hwang revealed that when he was working at the Institute for Information Industry (III) in Taiwan in 1985, one of his responsibilities was to look up export declaration data of Taiwan companies from customs every month, where he found that countries in northern Europe accounted for a significantly high portion of overseas shipments from major Taiwan PC vendors.Governments in northern Europe promote education, building a foundation for the development of smart citiesFrom Hwang's observations of the development of global informatization, he noted that northern European governments started devoting resources to IT education in the late 1980s. Although the tax burden in northern Europe is considerably higher than that in Taiwan with almost a 50% income tax imposed on citizens, the government has deployed all kinds of tax credits and incentives to promote IT education among citizens, boosting their motivation to enhance the quality and transition to an information-based economy.For instance, people in northern Europe could get tax credits for purchasing home computers, which helped cultivate a PC culture. Moreover, the implementation of numerous policies for improving informatization enabled a transition to an information economy early on, and helped drive investment in complementary Internet networks, which quickly developed to rank among the best in the world. Through the constant long-term development of informatization through 30 years of education, these governments paved a way for integrating various IT services and ICT applications, which are the core of smart cities, into the lives of their citizens.From unmanned stations to electronic payments, northern Europe incorporates smart services into lifeHwang offered his personal observations from his trip to northern Europe. He saw unmanned transport stations and industrial applications provide deliberate and comprehensive services that demonstrate informatization and make life easier. For example, a trip from Giethoorn to the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens in Netherlands requires taking a train and then transferring to a bus. All the travel tickets and checked luggage were purchased on websites and completed at unmanned counters. The connection between trains and buses during the trip were fully enabled by IT, enabling tourists to correctly complete transfers using different types of transportation, while free and high quality Wi-Fi was provided on trains.Hwang indicated that another amazing experience of smart cities is taking buses in northern Europe. From his experience, the most troublesome question concerning taking buses was that people could not accurately estimate the arrival time at stops, resulting in wasteful and meaningless time spent waiting for buses. From his experience changing buses during his trip, he learned that buses in north European countries kept to a set schedule to an extent that passengers could accurately estimate the arrival time of different buses and better utilize their own time.Northern Europe uses service incentives to attract the public to enjoy using services offered by smart citiesHwang noted that purchasing train tickets at a ticket window in a station in northern Europe is not the smart way to travel. Buying a train ticket on the Internet is rather convenient in northern Europe. Although ordering online and collecting tickets at the station is a very simple service and concept, the biggest issue for making this type of service successful is learning how to engage the public to use the smart service.Northern European countries try to optimize incentives for using smart services as much as possible in order to accelerate the process of integrating convenient services of smart cities into life. For instance, passengers purchasing train tickets at a ticket window in a station are required to pay a 0.5 Euro service charge. On the other hand, if you purchase the ticket online, there is no service charge. As a result, there is a financial incentive to use the most practical and efficient way of purchasing tickets, which in turn cultivates a habit of purchasing online and further optimizes the development and integration of smart services.Northern Europe utilize policies and tax incentives to speed up the penetration of smart and energy-saving applicationsAnother of Hwang's discoveries came from observing Norway. He noted that Norway has abundant oil in the North Sea, but electric cars represent a 12% share of the market, making it the country with the highest ratio of electric cars. Even an oil-producing country like Norway is dedicated to the development of electric car industry for environmental, smart and energy-saving reasons, providing an example of the nation's attitude toward life. In Norway numerous taxis utilize electric cars produced by Tesla Motors, a major American electric car vendor. Tesla electric cars are priced at around US$110,000. Expensive electric cars like Tesla can't be used as commercial cars without the government's support of tax credits and policies.Hwang discovered that the high market share of Tesla electric cars can be attributed to not only commercial cars like taxis, but also to the public. People who buy electric cars benefit from electric car charging stations being available everywhere, tax credits, toll discounts, and even preferred parking spaces. Local governments attract people to convert from traditional fuel vehicles to pollution-free and environmental electric vehicles by granting them the convenience of freely using disable parking spaces. Combining policies with a convenient social infrastructure to stimulate a high-penetration rate of electric cars is an example that should be noted by the Taiwan government.Taiwan has an opportunity to become a model in Asia with its ICT advantagesHwang also shared his deep feelings from his observations of Denmark. Upon alighting from his flight in Denmark, he saw a gigantic wall advertisement saying "Welcome to the world's happiest nation." He then discovered that this public service advertisement was a big billboard sponsored by the private sector company Carlsberg, which has been a long-time supporter of the Danish royal family's Frederiksborg. Hwang noted that Norway and Denmark are not extravagant at all despite their wealth. The private sectors in these nations are willing to make contributions to society and governments invest money in long-term projects targeting smart cities and green energies.Taiwan's interaction with northern Europe extends beyond simply purchasing salmon, lumbar and traveling. The total invested amount of Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund in Taiwan has exceeded US$8 billion as of the end of the first quarter 2014. This seemingly enormous amount accounts for only 1.4% of Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund. There is still plenty of room for growth in cooperation between Taiwan and Norway.In the early stages, technology industries such as Acer and Copam gained profits from northern Europe. Assembled computers were shipped to northern European countries in large amounts. Nowadays most IPC firms customize host boards adopted by northern European countries are developed and manufactured in Taiwan. In terms of developing smart cities, Taiwan possesses superior ICT hardware technologies to help develop smart cities. If Taiwan can borrow from northern Europe's successful experiences in developing smart cities and even establish technical cooperation with northern European countries, it will stand a better chance of turning itself into a paragon of building smart cities in the East Asia region.Colley Hwang, President of DIGITIMES

Improving mobile data communication technology plays a key role in constructing a smart service network in smart cities. Currently, 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile data transfer technology is the most popular. In addition to countries such as South Korea, Japan, and Singapore that have been aggressive in building 4G commercial services, Taiwan began issuing 4G licenses in October 2013 and Taiwan-based telecommunication carriers will begin to provide 4G services by the end of 2014.In the blueprint of smart city planning, mobile telecommunication networks play a crucial role as machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) netoworks, and the need to stay connected using various smart devices all rely on the support from the mobile data transfer technology. Although the current 3G technology may still satisfy demand, it is inferior to the new generation 4G LTE and 5G technologies in terms of data transfer speeds. The new technologies are much better than 3G in overcoming transmission lags, and their transmission efficiency is 10-100 times better than 3G. The 4G and 5G technologies will be key ones in smart city developments.4G LTE technology showing great leap in data transfer efficiencyAccording to Kevin Wang, Senior Director, NTT TAIWAN, when talking about smart city developments, one has to mention the development of 4G mobile data transfer technology. The 3G High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) can achieve a transfer rate of 7.2Mb/s, but 4G is 10 times faster with the data volume three times as big. Even the transmission lag is only one-quarter of that in 3G.The 4G technology not only helps users and system integrators, consumers can download large volumes of digital content such as music and videos at faster speeds with less lags. This means consumers can have better user experience with different services while spending less time on downloading. For service providers and system integrators, 4G networks can increase service efficiency of base stations and achieve faster and smoother integrations of smart services.Taiwan telecom carriers can follow the path of Japan DoCoMoWang noted that Taiwan-based telecom carriers can follow the path of Japan-based telecom carrier NTT TAIWAN DoCoMo in developing 4G or even 5G mobile technologies. The 4G era picked up momentum in December 2011 when more than 50 telecom carriers around the world started making deployments for their 4G commercial services, with another 190 planning to follow suit. The total LTE users worldwide by December 2015 will likely reach 320 million. Japan NTT TAIWAN DoCoMo introduced LTE services in 2012 and has since been expanding them.Wang stated that while Taiwan did not start issuing 4G licenses till 2013, Japan's mobile telecommunication industries have already begun talking about 5G. For DoCoMo, 5G involves LTE Advance technology. A comparison of LTE Advance with the current 4G technology shows that the former has superior performance in improving delays and data transfer efficiency. Theoretically, LTE Advance technology can achieve data transfer speed 10 to 100 times faster than 4G technology, and hence it is a solution worth developing.4G service construction requires strong financial supportIn DoCoMo's planning, Japan's 4G wireless data transfer speed theoretically can reach 1Tb/s by March 2016, but LTE Advance technology is likely to offer 10 times faster speeds at 100Mb/s-10Tb/s. The reason LTE Advance can reach such high efficiency because it adopts C-RAM Architecture. This architecture categorizes users by data usage in each base station. For example, for base stations in crowded places, the technology can group high-usage users together and use Carrier Aggregation technology to enhance data services of that base station. It then uses Macro Cell and Add-on Cell technologies to improve user experience for high-usage consumers. This new structure makes sure users have optimal data transfer quality even in crowded places.Japan introduced LTE commercial services in 2010 while Taiwan just recently issued licenses. Taiwan-based telecom carriers can follow Japan's path. Wang noted that Japan DoCoMo invested US$350 million in LTE technology in 2010 and focused on metropolitan areas such as Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. Japan DoCoMo constructed 1,000 base stations with 800 in Tokyo, 100 in Nagoya and 100 in Osaka. In 2010, LTE service coverage was only 7% of the total population. In 2011, DoCoMo invested JPY100 billion (US$1 billion) in LTE services, which is almost three times that in 2010. The investment was to build base stations in various towns, areas, and prefectures in Japan, expanding the number of its base stations to a total of 5,000 with LTE service covering 20% of the total population. In 2012, the firm invested US$1.7 billion to construct base stations all over the 9major cities in Japan. The total number of base stations reached 15,000 units with coverage increasing to 40%.Upgrading from 3G to 4G can help carriers expand the number of usersIn 2013-2014, Japan has more than 20 million users using LTE data services, ranking third in the world. Japan is not the only country gearing up development of LTE services; in fact, South Korea is the country that has invested the most into LTE commercial services. In 2013, South Korea's LTE coverage reached more than 62% of its total population, ranking number one, followed by Japan and Singapore in second and third places, respectively. LTE services are far more popular in Asia compared to countries in Europe or the US.Take Japan DoCoMo's LTE development for example. In 2014, the number of LTE base stations will reach 35,000 with coverage reaching 70%. DoCoMo plans to increase investments to JPY400 billion (US$4 billion) in 2014. Wang pointed out that currently, one-third of the users in Japan use 3G networks to stay connected, and hence DoCoMo hopes higher 4G coverage can push more users to adopt LTE services. The firm has set the goal of increasing the number of base stations to 100,000 by March 2015. If this target is reached, the coverage will increase to 98% and the number of LTE users may increase to 30 million, approximately one-quarter of the population in Japan.Taiwan has many 4G carriers and value-added services are key to successTaiwan recently completed the issuing of 4G licenses and service planning is the key for firms to expand the number of users. Wang stated the firms that have obtained the 4G licenses in Taiwan are three large-size firms and three small-size firms. The three large-size firms are Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), Far Eastone, and Taiwan Mobile. According to market analysts, CHT plans to begin LTE services in July 2014 and sets an initial target of 300,000 users. The firm hopes to achieve the goal of one million users by 2015. Far Eastone plans to introduce LTE services in the third quarter of 2014 with a target of 700,000-800,000 users. Taiwan Mobile also plans to begin LTE services in the third quarter of 2014 with a user target of 400,000-500,000. The three small-size firms that have obtained the 4G licenses are Asia Pacific Telecom, Ting Hsin International Group, and Ambit Microsystems, a subsidiary of Foxconn. Asia Pacific Telecom plans to begin LTE services in the third quarter of 2014 while Ting Hsin and Ambit Microsystems plan to introduce the LTE services in fourth-quarter 2014 and the beginning of 2015, respectively.Wang noted that LTE services are useful in expanding customer bases and improve user experience due to high data transfer speeds and low delays. LTE's higher quality data transfer technology may sound attractive, but the market challenge is still quite substantial. The 4G LTE technology has the same problems as those facing the previous technology, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). LTE services have a complicated division of frequencies in different areas and hence roaming might be a problem. This problem can be solved if handset makers and telecom carriers work together. In addition, although 4G LTE shows a great leap in efficiency, if telecom carriers do not provide killer apps for their LTE services, it would be harder for them to reap profits from this new technology.Kevin Wang, Senior Director, NTT Taiwan

Consumer payments have developed from using paper, to magnetic stripe cards, to integrated circuit (IC) cards, and eventually, to chip cards. The evolution from magnetic stripe cards to chip cards is a response by the card issuing agencies to growing consumer concerns about payment safety. Furthermore, moving from chip cards to Near Field Communications (NFC) or even to Online to Offline (O2O), a type of value-added payment method that integrates marketing, will bring more potential benefits to the consumer market as part of the emerging smart city ecosystem.Telecom carriers and banks to develop popular mobile payment applicationsAccording to Jason Kuo, Advisor, APSCA, Taiwan-based telecommunications carriers and credit card-issuing banks have been eager to develop the mobile payment market. With the Taiwan government issuing 4G licenses, some 4G telecommunications carriers plan to develop mobile payment solutions using 4G technology to create a more convenient way to pay, in the hope of gaining market share.The rising popularity of the Internet and Internet transactions make e-commerce payment applications more favorable especially as 3G/4G wireless data services begin to expand. The rising demand for mobile Internet applications and smartphone devices has contributed to the increasing popularity of e-commerce. New business models can be created by having smartphones support O2O and indoor positioning systems (IPS) in order to integrate various marketing applications.Mobile payment applications challenge traditional payment methodsThe process of purchase and payment has been upgraded from the traditional cashier to smart point of sale (POS) systems. Furthermore, payments can be completed using personal computers, tablets, and smartphones. Payment methods that use smart devices are faster, can achieve a higher level of safety, and can reach the goal of "every device is a shopping device".In the past, consumers needed to see TV advertisements or direct marketing materials (DMs) to obtain product information, but now with smartphones, consumers can obtain product information from the Internet which is faster and more abundant. Hence, consumers no longer have to go into department stores to compare products and can use smartphones and mobile networks to obtain information such as user comments. In addition, the online-sharing of user experiences, product reviews, purchase location, payment methods, and bids can all be done through smartphones and mobile networks. This simplification shortens the time between desire and purchase. This also means retail stores will face many opportunities and challenges.Integrating digital payments with network technologies to increase the smartness of the shopping processThe next stage of digital payment technology integration should not only consider the technological aspects, but also business opportunities from providing value-added services to meet consumer demand. For example, when using e-commerce platforms, users often need to input delivery addresses and personal information into the different checkout platforms, and it is quite difficult to type on mobile devices. Hence, some firms have introduced cloud services that allow users to store their personal information or payment methods so they can be automatically entered into forms when needed. This allows e-commerce to be more seamless and quick, while users do not have to memorize multiple account names and passwords or use low safety accounts to make transactions.Payment is only one step in the purchasing process, as user recommendations depend on the entire experience. Smartphones, which can provide users with price comparison and product information before making purchases, are key to driving consistent consumption behavior. In addition, the next generation of mobile payment smart services with O2O value-added applications could create consumption experiences that are superior and more complete. Other than digitalizing payment tools, adding smart features to conventional consumption methods as consumers purchase things in stores, using store credit, credit cards or through O2O, will be key to improving the shopping experience.As for the value-add of mobile payments, telecommunications carriers have the advantage in developing applications, such as using Location Based Services (LBS) to direct product information to a consumer's smartphone. Telecommunications carriers can also use text messages to guide users to product information. Regardless of technology, using the combination of text messages with services can help to build a more comprehensive and smart shopping experience and provide consumers with payment details to control expenses. Applications could also provide consumers with shopping lists or price comparison services. This is close to the ideology of zero-retail. Comparatively, traditional credit cards or store credit cannot effectively connect with smart services, hence these payment methods cannot have the same effect as O2O marketing shopping guides.Mobile wallet is core to mobile payment developmentHandsets have become an important identification tool for each person in the mobile network environment because it can be used as a wallet that contains personal identification, personal discounts obtained through the Internet (such as coupons, membership cards, and tickets), or confidential information and cards (such as credit and debit cards) that are stored securely on the handset. Users can conduct remote transactions or use NFC, scanned QR codes, barcodes, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to interact with different stores.To bring users tangible benefits from mobile payments, the first stage in the development of mobile wallet platforms is to attract users to use the service daily by introducing products such as single-payment cards with discounts. The second stage is to expand the number of users and attract more companies to join to increase the convenience of mobile payments. The third stage is to expand to firms in different industries with services such as electronic receipts and point-collection services to create a mutually beneficial relationship between consumers, banks, and firms.Jason Kuo, Advisor, Asia Pacific Smart Card Association (APSCA)