Macau (MNA) – During a public consultation held on Monday, the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) has identified initial short-term plans to develop Macau’s smart city plan – including the implementation of smart lamp posts, and the collection of traffic data.
Smart lamp posts, which have also been announced in other countries such as Singapore, will use sensors to monitor traffic data.
On the latest weekly talk show Macau Forum, Frederick Ma Chi Ngai, the president of FDCT, has clarified that the smart lamp posts will not replace lamp posts in the city but that existing lamps will be fitted with sensors.
This was also outlined in a short-term plan provided by the FDCT, along with plans to collect commuter data using Global Positioning Systems (GPS), similar to data that is collected from applications such as ‘Bus Traveling System’ by the Transport Bureau (DSAT).
Concerns about privacy were raised during the Macau Forum by the public, which have been echoed by local activists and an international law expert.
In response, Lio Chi Chong, a senior official of the Personal Data Protection Office (GPDP) has said that Macau’s Personal Data Protection Law, enacted in 2005, would serve as a “comprehensive” framework law on the matter.
The smart city consultation document made public last week proposes seven suggestions to meet Macau’s needs – one of which is the updating of the city’s laws and regulations.
It is not entirely clear which laws and regulations will need to be amended, although Lio has emphasised during the debate programme that there were no plans to review and amend the Personal Data Protection Law.
In addition to the Personal Data Protection Law, a new cybersecurity law is under review – one that would propose administrative sanctions should online security measures not be put in place.
As this law has yet to take effect, it remains unclear what this means for the smart city project in the long-term, since Alibaba signed an agreement with the Macau SAR Government in August 2017 to develop the MSAR into a smart city by 2021.
The first phase of the project is slated to be completed in June 2019, and will involve building up a cloud computing centre in the city as well as taking on data mapping managed by various government departments.
If all goes according to schedule, the first batch of projects will produce results by the end of 2018.
The government is currently holding public consultations on the smart city project until June 30.
[Edited by Sheyla Zandonai]
