Local think tank Collective Wisdom Policy Centre on Monday slammed the government for failing to come up with plans and concrete measures to achieve its objective of transforming Macau into a smart city.
The government laid out a string of plans and measures aiming to convert Macau into a smart city in the long term, in its first-ever Five-Year Development Plan, which was released in September last year.
The association hosted a press conference on Monday at its office, where its two vice-presidents, Andy Loi Man Keong and Chan Ka Leong, detailed the smart city developments in the mainland and in Singapore, apart from making suggestions to the government on the matter.
According to Loi, since the government announced the Five-Year Development Plan, it has still not set up any entity to co-ordinate the transformation of Macau into a smart city.
Loi said the necessary measures for the construction of a smart city would have to involve various government entities, soi that the establishment of a separate government entity was needed for the respective policy-making process and co-ordination of the relevant entities, with the aim of transforming the city into a smart city.
Loi added that the government’s Science and Technology Development Fund was little more than a body which provides organisations and individuals with subsidies for funding research projects.
Loi also singled out poor IT infrastructure as a major constraint on smart city development in Macau. He criticised Macau’s Internet speed, describing it as slow but expensive.
Loi also said that while the rest of the world is developing 5th generation (G5) mobile networks, the city’s G4 mobile networks, launched in 2015, are still not widely used.
Loi also urged the government to ensure more WiFi coverage in public places.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
