Jeff Kagan: Smart City InFocus Conference in Yinchuan China

The Smart City Infocus 2016 Conference is being held in Yinchuan, China this week. I was invited to attend so I could experience this new smart city, write about it and talk about it as a wireless analyst and columnist. This event is being sponsored by the Chinese Government. They are very serious about being a leader in the smart city movement that will continue to transform all our lives in coming years.

The Government of China is flying over more than just key wireless analysts. They are also flying over 500 Mayors, City CIO’s and CTO’s and C-Level executives from top Fortune 500 companies from more than 60 different countries. They will discuss what it takes to make a city not only smart, but sustainable. It’s about technology, fiscal, regulatory and administrative areas.

You may ask: Why is the typically conservative Chinese Government taking such a big step towards open collaboration? We are in the early days of a smart city revolution. There are hundreds of rapidly growing technologically advanced cities in China. Yinchuan was chosen as the smartest city in China. The Chinese Government wants citizens of Yinchuan to be one of the first in China to receive end-to-end smart city services. They want the world to see this as a shining example of what we can all expect going forward.

Chinese Government, TM Forum and ZTE

This event is being held in partnership with the Chinese government, the Yinchuan Municipal Government, TM Forum and ZTE. It will have over 43 speakers from 26 different cities sharing case studies on smart urban development and all that they have learned in building smart cities of both today and tomorrow.

They will discuss the smart city foundation, the city as a platform, creating engaged, collaborative and innovative cities, leveraging big data and the Internet of Things or IoT. They will focus on becoming smarter with smart mobility, smart energy and smart health.

Growing Interest in Smart City Technology

This is becoming an annual event and I see this becoming more important not only to Yinchuan, not only to China, but to the entire world because we are all moving toward the smart city as we speak. Some are moving faster than others, but you can’t sit out this dance. It will transform everything.

Here are highlights from last year’s event , and this is a link to the show's web site .

Smart City Revolution

One of the big challenges is bringing city governments into the mix, because everything we know about managing a city is going to change. And if the government is not supportive of the change, that will be a problem. That’s why some cities will be first to venture into this new smart city area while others will lag behind.

In these early days of this smart city revolution, the cities that embrace the idea will be the leaders. However, at some point the revolution will be adopted by enough cities that those who don’t embrace it will find themselves left behind. It’s a matter of timing.

Opportunities in Smart City Technology

That means there are incredible opportunities for workers and investors as well as users. The buildout will take a long time and countless dollars, but it will happen.