On September 29th, Sumitomo Corporation and Intage Vietnam held an online workshop on the Smart City Project in Northern Hanoi, which was attended by about 20 students from five master’s degree programs. This project is a large-scale urban development project jointly implemented by Sumitomo Corporation and BRG Group, a Vietnamese conglomerate. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss and exchange views on the survey contents and the project concept with the graduate students of Vietnam-Japan University. The agreement between Vietnam-Japan University and Intage Vietnam was signed in June this year, led by the MBA program.
During the ice breaker at the beginning of the session, the moderator asked questions about the definitions of “smart city” and “smart”, and the students actively presented their opinions despite the fact that the session was just starting.
Then, after an explanation of the various smart services and smart community hubs that will be provided to the residents of the smart city, the participating students gave their evaluations in terms of (1) favorability of the concept, and (2) whether they would want to use the hubs if they were the residents. The reasons for the evaluation and the suggestions for improvement were also discussed. During the discussion, data management for e-commerce and face recognition systems came up frequently, and while some pointed out the safety of personal information, especially children’s information, others argued that the use of personal information as data is necessary for social development and more convenient life, indicating the high awareness of the younger generation regarding the handling of personal information.
In the final discussion on issues related to life in Hanoi and how to solve them, problems such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and infrastructure development (road network, transportation network) were pointed out, while some students raised the high standard of medical care and education as advantages. With the participation of students from various fields of study, a single topic was evaluated and analyzed from a variety of perspectives and backgrounds, making the workshop a fruitful discussion for Sumitomo Corporation, Intage Vietnam, and the students.
