25 June 2018, Macau

As a public utility responsible for managing streetlights, CEM ties in with Macau SAR Government’s Five-Year Development Plan in building a smart city and has been proactively arranging seminars and exchange events to assist Macau to develop towards this direction. Amid the global development trend of smart city, major cities are introducing smart streetlight systems one after another. These systems do not only examine energy consumption to save energy, but also collect real-time information about the city, such as real-time traffic, measurement data, air quality, temperature monitoring and so forth, providing more valuable data for the city. Since the establishment and use of the smart streetlight system involves various government departments, CEM held a two-day smart streetlight study visit to Guangzhou between June 21 and 22 to deepen related departments’ understanding on smart streetlights and facilitate communications and discussions. Representatives from ten government departments and the CEM Customer Liaison Committee were invited to jointly visit the smart streetlight project in Guangzhou Development District and acquire relevant information and experience.

Members of the delegation include Horry Hui, Coordinator of Office for the Development of the Energy Sector of Macau SAR (GDSE); Hoi Io Meng, Deputy Director of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO); Bernie Leong, Chairman of CEM's Executive Committee and representatives from Unitary Police Service, Office for Personal Data Protection, Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Cultural Affairs Bureau, Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau, Transport Bureau, Environmental Protection Bureau, Meteorological and Geophysics Bureau and CEM Customer Liaison Committee.

On the morning of June 21, the delegation of 38 members departed from Macau to visit the Guangzhou Development Zone. The itinerary includes a meeting on the smart city project in Guangzhou Development Zone, live demonstration of the smart streetlight project and case sharing etc. As one of the earliest cities to plan smart streetlights in China, Guangzhou listed Kaitai Road as the demonstration point to replace traditional streetlights with smart ones. The new smart streetlights feature various functions based on local conditions. They are upgraded from traditional lights and can be controlled remotely. Equipped with various sensors, the pole of smart streetlight can be utilized for environmental and atmospheric monitoring, WiFi coverage, micro base stations of communication, collection and release of information and so forth. The pole base can incorporate chargers or touchscreens that provide a service platform for citizens to interact with and conveniently check information such as weather forecasts, maps and latest public information etc. The monitoring equipment around the light post can also capitalize on the light post platform to collect information such as shift in manhole cover, tilted artifacts and ancient trees, as well as water level monitoring. The data collection method extends from points to regions, setting the stage for the interconnection of a smart city in the future. The centralized management platform shown on site can combine big data analysis and human-computer interaction technology and grasp the city’s dynamics in real time.

The smart streetlight solution has made full use of the existing urban road lighting facilities, and expanded their information sensing ability to set up a fully-covered information sensing network. Meanwhile, it has resolved the problem of lamp posts abundance, which effectively saves the city’s ground surface and spatial resources as well as provides a great support for the setup of a smart city in the future.

On June 22, the delegation visited the smart city experience centre in Dongguan. They experienced the comprehensive technical plan on the spot and further visualized the blueprints of future smart city by drawing on the experiences of other urban pilot projects.

The delegation was warmly received by Chen Jianrong, Secretary-General of the Management Committee of Guangzhou Development District; Chen Zhiyong, Deputy Head of Huangpu District of Guangzhou City and Party Member of the District Government; Yang Jiaxin, Director of the Construction Bureau of Guangzhou Development District; as well as the Guangdong Rongwen Energy Technology Group Co., Ltd.

The visitors expressed satisfaction with the two-day itinerary, during which they were able to learn about the related technologies, operation and management of smart streetlights and experienced the utilization of smart streetlight systems. They acknowledged the benefits gained through the meeting, exchange and visit, and reckoned that Macau can refer to these cases when working to promote smart streetlights.