Danang’s Road To Becoming A Smart City

Danang is a coastal city located in Vietnam which is slowly starting to gain popularity because of its white sand beaches and beautiful resorts. There are over a million residents residing in Danang which is becoming an urban city in a faster speed than expected. It is expected that by 2030, the population of Danang will be more than twice it is now. There are many reasons to love the city from the French village in Danang to the beaches and the locals.

Danang is also part of the ASCN or ASEAN Smart Cities Network along with 25 more cities in its pilot program. These cities are required to be under ASEAN member states before they can join. They were officially launched last year during the 33rd ASEAN Summit which was held in Singapore on November. According to the ASCN, their goal is to collaborate in order for the cities to achieve the same goal which is to become smarter and more sustainable.

Two years ago, there were 6.6 million tourists who came to Danang and this number is 19 per cent higher compared to the year before. The figure for that year was also higher by 4.8 than their expected target for the year. Out of the 6.6 million tourists, 65 per cent came were traveling domestically while the remaining number were international travellers but majority of them came from neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Lao PDR.

Economist Intelligence Unit survey revealed that 84 per cent of the people living in Danang think their city is also under the smart category because of the improvements that have been done especially to the environment. In the last few years, the city is making waves because of its leap towards urban development using sustainable methods and at the same time making sure information technology is applied.

The pilot e-government platform was released in 2014 in Danang and the system was able to host 1,196 public services through online. An additional 498 services have been offered to cover other needs such as public infrastructure, land use and water quality.

The city also launched a mobile application called Danabus which can be used by residents to monitor the routes of the local buses. This is helpful for tourists going to French village in Danang or any other landmark as they can easily commute.