Can China Outsmart U.S. in Race to Build Smart Cities in SE Asia?

Both committed to regional partnerships but U.S. is struggling to make its mark A year ago, U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence announced that the United States would support a Southeast Asian plan to transform the region's rapidly growing cities into hi-tech hubs. The move would "spur renewed American investment in the region's digital infrastructure", Pence said at the…
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KOICA Commits to Coordination with ASCN and USASCP

The 4th Republic of Korea (ROK)-United States Senior Economic Dialogue (SED) was held in Seoul on November 6, with Vice Foreign Minister Lee Taeho and Under Secretary of State Keith Krach leading their respective delegations. Both sides intend to continue their close coordination through the SED to further strengthen bilateral economic ties and enhance their partnership on regional and…

Watching Huawei’s “Safe Cities”

Huawei’s "Safe City" products have fueled concerns that China is "exporting authoritarianism." Among the "solutions" Huawei sells globally under this label are facial and license-plate recognition, social media monitoring, and other surveillance capabilities. To better understand these developments, the CSIS Reconnecting Asia Project examined open-sources and identified 73 "Safe City" agreements for surveillance products or services across…

USAID Announces More Than $440 Million for the Indo-Pacific

USAID has dedicated an additional $441 million to expand partnerships with governments, civil society, and the private sector in countries in the Indo-Pacific region in support of activities in energy, infrastructure, digital connectivity, trade, and other economic activities.
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Chairman Welcomes USASCP Activities at 7th ASEAN-U.S. Summit

Chairman's Statement: "We welcomed the activities under the U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership initiative, including the U.S.-ASEAN Symposium on 9-10 July 2019 in Washington, DC. We looked forward to the planned activities under the USASCP, including workshops, sharing of best practices, development of pilot projects, private sector engagements, among others, in support of smart city development in the…

Indo-Pacific Business Forum Showcases U.S. Commitment

The Indo-Pacific Business Forum in Bangkok promoted the value of high-standard investment, transparency, rule of law, and private-sector-led economic development. Since July 2018, the Department of Commerce has assisted more than 9,000 U.S. companies to do business in the Indo-Pacific region and facilitated more than $7.65 billion in U.S. exports.
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OPIC, DFAT and JBIC Launch Blue Dot Network

The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) today unveiled Blue Dot Network—a multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together governments, the private sector, and civil society to promote high-quality, trusted standards for global infrastructure development in an open and inclusive framework. Read Full…

A Pilot City of ASEAN Smart Cities Network: Jakarta

When quizzed about "Jakarta Smart City" (JSC), some people were quick to say that it was synonymous with technology. "Technology, internet, sophisticated, all matters will be completely simple and fast," a person stated. Read Full Article From Antara News Agency

Jefferson Science Fellow Lectures on Smart Cities and Technology

Jefferson Science Fellow (JSF) Dr. Elizabeth Smela presented a lecture, "Smart Cities and Their Technologies: An introduction to smart cities and the technologies needed to implement them," to department employees and guests. Held at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, Dr. Smela's lecture explained some of the key technologies that need to be employed in order to…

ASEAN’s Smart Cities Need Smart Parking

Boston Consulting Group's 2017 report titled, "Unlocking Cities," revealed that Vietnamese spend the most time looking for parking spaces. It took city dwellers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh an average of 45 minutes and 31 minutes, respectively, to find a parking space for their cars. The study also found that Filipinos and Thais spend…
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Who Will Pay for ASEAN’s Smart Cities?

At the ASEAN Smart Cities Network Roundtable Meeting in Bangkok in June, Thailand's Digital Economy and Society Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj called for more public-private partnerships and said his country plans to attract non-ASEAN countries for partnerships and investments in smart city infrastructure as part of the ASCN. Among the countries mentioned were Japan, South Korea and China – all…
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