The Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs directs the project, Smart City Taiwan, as part of the Taiwanese government’s goal to promote industrial upgrading and transformation and digital technologies. The central and local governments and industries work together to introduce smart, innovative applications covering different areas, such as health, education, agriculture, and tourism.
So far, the project has yield remarkable results. About 300 companies have released more than 220 smart services accessible to 8.54 million people. These smart services are designed to address local issues and are also being exported to foreign countries.
Taking smart fire control/disaster reduction services in the field of governance, for example, there is a shortage of firefighters, which disproportions the population served in cities/counties across Taiwan. About 90% of fires in Taiwan occur in buildings. Firefighters have different psychological and training qualities such as stress resistance and mastery of equipment in the fire scene.
Without sufficient on-site information and construction drawings, fire commanders are unable to give clear instructions to the disaster relief personnel; after entering the fire scene, firefighters are prone to fall, be hit by objects or trigger flashovers and explosions as they have difficulties locating dangerous objects. Changes in compartments or blocked exits ensure the build-after-occupancy-permit, or firefighters lose directions due to thick smoke. These external factors also pose a high threat to the lives and safety of the disaster relief personnel.
A Taiwanese company designed the “Smart 3D Realty Fire Control System” featuring 3D-BIM (Building Information Modeling), 3D map and panoramas shooting, and LiDAR. Based on the internal/external environments filmed and points of interest tagging, commanders can track the location and status of fire hoses and roads around the fire scene and dangerous objects inside the building; in addition, commanders can deploy in advance through the system on the way to the fire scene and fine-tune the deployment as needed after arriving at the scene.
After applying the system in disaster relief, the Yilan County Fire Bureau shortened the time for deployment by 10% on average; most importantly, commanders could fully control the physiological state of firefighters, the number of gas cylinders, and the location of a firefighter whose vertical and horizontal errors are within 5 meters. This means that once firefighters are trapped, rescue can be provided immediately or instructions can be given to evacuating them quickly from the fire scene.
Built on this successful cooperation with Yilan County Government, the company has been improving solutions to stringent firefighting environments and working with other local governments to export the system. As of today, the Fire Department, New Taipei City Government has adopted the system, and European positioning system manufacturers and Filipino firefighting equipment manufacturers have also expressed their willingness to purchase the system.
To augment the applications of the system, the company also applies panoramas shooting in route directions in large places such as hospitals and personnel positioning services in the management of key equipment, assets and dangerous objects in companies and hospitals.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, in the process of developing smart cities, Taiwan has begun to explore ways to combine technology with commerce to create a new green economy while finding a new powerful engine for the industry and cities in support of international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Ultimately, Taiwan aims to build urban resilience and usher into a new era of urban and environmental sustainability.