Market intelligence and advisory firm IDC Asia Pacific has announced the winners of the 2016 Smart City Asia Pacific Awards (SCAPA).

SCAPA recognises the most outstanding smart city projects in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) in 14 functional e-services. Projects came from all over the region with Singapore and New Zealand emerging as the biggest winners with three awards each.

“The smart city momentum is growing extensively in the Asia Pacific region as many nations see it as an organic, bottom-up and middle-out innovation growth that will spearhead the next cycle of eGovernment evolutions,” said Gerald Wang, head of Asia Pacific Government and Education.

“While at least 90 per cent of all AP local governments or smart cities’ growth leverage funds are provided by central or federal functions, many of them are notably given the autonomy to create their own unique identity in city governance, strategic operations and provisioning of effective e-services.”

The award winners show the growing prevalence of citizen-directed initiatives and driving local industries, which Wang comments ultimately contributes back to “stimulating domestic social and economic sustainability”. He adds: “This year’s submissions and winners highlight the impact of climate change and slowing global trade. This led to the stronger push for environmental sustainability and operational efficiency so as to bring about better living standards and future continuity of the various AP cities.”

To determine the top projects, a rigorous six-month benchmarking exercise was carried out IDC Government Insights, which assists government policy, programmes and IT leaders, as well as suppliers, to help them make more effective technology decisions. The process included identifying and cataloguing the key smart city projects in Asia/Pacific by IDC Analysts across APeJ (25 per cent), online voting to determine public opinion (50 per cent), and the assessment of an international advisory council (25 per cent).

The winning projects are:

Transportation

Connected Transport Systems, Taipei City, Taiwan

Public Works

Forward Works Spatial Co-ordination Project, Christchurch City, New Zealand

Smart buildings

Smart Yuhua Residential Estate, Singapore

Smart grid

Energy Market Services Load Forecast Service, various cities, New Zealand

Smart water

Initiative to Develop Singapore as a Global HydroHub, Singapore

Administration

U-Eco City, Cheongna, Incheon, South Korea

Economic development

Next Generation National Trade Platform, Singapore

Land use and environmental management

Environment Canterbury Matrix of Good Management Farm Portal, Canterbury Region, New Zealand

Permitting, licensing

Inspection and Zoning, Smart Farming, State of Tasmania, Australia

Public safety

Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), various cities, Philippines

Education

Wisdom Education Initiative, Haidan District, Beijing, China

Tourism, arts, libraries, culture, open spaces

Digital Transformation Initiative to Enhance eTourism and eCulture, Shanghai City, China

Connected Health

NSW Integrated Care Initiative, State of New South Wales, Australia

Social services

Saensuk Smart City – Smart Living, Saensuk City, Thailand