Prof. Giorgio Prodi, Professor of the Economics and Management School, University of Ferrara, Italy
Dear organizers, I'm honored to be invited to give my contribution to this interesting forum.
I want to start by mentioning what Dr. Chen Xi,Ffounder of Harbor Overseas, wrote in the 2023 Asian Smart City ranking which has been presented in this conference. The citiesaround the world and the reshaping of global supply chains have exacerbated the concerns on geopolitical fragmentation. A continued lack of global cooperation and understanding will increase the risk of conflict or war. Cooperation at the global level, especially between countries that are under increasing influence from China and the US, is more and more difficult. I hope that cooperation at the city and regional level will help us maintain open channels of cooperation and understanding.
Development at the city level is more and more important because it is a crucial engine for growth and also for the development of services for the citizens, which may guarantee a better quality of life. From a perspective of the Westernworld on Asia, I have many experiences to share. Therefore this forum is a great opportunity. I would like to share with you some points that, in my opinion, would be important for future cooperation.
The first point is the importance of smart cities not losing the focus on the quality of life of their citizens. “Smartness” is often related to new technologies, 5G, 6G, quantum computing, etc, but technologies are only instruments. Technology is useful only in developing better services for the people. Asia is a younger continent, not in terms of history, of course, but in terms of young people. While Europe is experiencing huge problems already with its aged population, a young continent is, by definition, more open to new experiments. This may benefit European cities as they can explore new things developing in Asia. At the same time, European cities can build a laboratory for new services for an older population that would be used in a few years for Asian cities as well. We may use the same technologies, but in quite different ways.
Lastly, our new technologies are data driven, and we need compatible rules for data treatment. Data is considered the ”new gold.” Gold is very easy to change. Sharing data can be much more complicated, and we cannot pretend that we don't see that there are differences around the world on data management and data protection. I think that this forum is and will be, in the future, a great opportunity to share experiences that will help smooth differences and make conflicts less probable. Asia and the G20 smart city rankings may become, in the future, not only a ranking, but also an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences.
Thank you!
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