I would love to learn more about your work as a government policy adviser on AI, infrastructure, education, and smart governance. Could you share about your role in crafting the National AI Roadmap under the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry? In what ways is this project important strategically for the Philippines? Many enterprises and organizations already consider data science and artificial intelligence (DSAI) as strategic capabilities. They are no longer optional, "nice-to-have" capabilities, but necessary, "must-have" -- a matter of organizational survival.

Abhijit Shanbhag is CEO of Graymatics, a cognitive media processing company, providing AI-powered solutions for multiple sectors including security and surveillance, digital marketing, telecommunications and IoT. He believes that many more cities can and should improve their safety and efficiency by engaging in Smart Cities projects, and here shares how the use of AI in the Smart Cities scheme can help to create a safer society. How can Smart Cities detect and track criminal activity? Smart Cities largely leverage Smart CCTV's to keep the city safe by employing powerful AI-based solutions, such as Graymatics, applied to the CCTV feeds to automatically detect various kinds of suspicious and/or criminal activities anywhere in the city. Any instances of criminal activity such as assault, brandishing of weapon, fire, vandalism, and/or suspicious behaviour will immediately be detected by the AI platform linking to the CCTVs, at which point an alert is created and assigned accordingly to law enforcement officials.

Osaka – Late last month, the Diet passed a revised bill paving the way for so-called "super cities" or "smart cities." Supporters tout them as high-tech marvels where artificial intelligence and big data are to be used to provide more efficient and cost-effective solutions to social problems, especially in areas faced with aging and declining populations and a reduced tax base. Opponents warn that data leaks could lead to privacy violations and even a surveillance state. What was the purpose of the recently passed bill? In order to realize the creation of smart cities in various parts of the country, any number of basic regulations involving multiple ministries needs to be changed. The May 27 revision to a national strategic special zone law included measures the government can now take to do that more quickly and under more specific guidelines.

CloudWalk has set up a facility in an AI industry park in Zhangjiang, displaying latest technologies and services including smart city projects. Chinese artificial intelligence firm CloudWalk Technology has raised 1.8 billion yuan (US$257 million) in its latest round of financing, the company said on Thursday. Investors in the new round include China Internet Industry Fund, Shanghai-based Guosheng Group, Guangzhou-based Nansha Financial Holdings and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's biggest bank. The latest investment points to rebounded market confidence and marks CloudWalk's next step toward an initial public offering, the company said in a statement. CloudWork is among China's "Four AI Dragons," along with Megvii, SenseTime and Yitu, each of which is valued at more than US$1 billion.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., Japan's auto and telecommunications giants, formed a capital tie-up Tuesday to build energy-efficient "smart cities" where autonomous vehicles transport residents. The two firms, which have been developing "connected cars" equipped with advanced telecommunication systems since 2017, deepened their partnership into mutual shareholdings, with each investing around 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) by purchasing each other's treasury stocks. Toyota said it will start the smart city project at a 175-acre site at the foot of Mt. Toyota has said only fully autonomous, zero-emission vehicles are allowed to travel on main streets in the envisioned smart city where around 2,000 residents have in-home robotics to assist their daily lives. NTT also said it will launch an internet-led smart city project at an NTT-related block in Shinagawa area in Tokyo's Minato Ward.

By 2050, 68 percent of the total global population will live in cities, according to the United Nations. By then, the world population will be 9.7 billion and 11.2 billion by 2100. The updated report from the United Nations states that currently, 55 percent of the world's population lives in urban areas. That means around 2.5 billion more people will be living in cities by 2050. India, China, and Nigeria combined will represent 35 percent of the projected urban population growth between 2018 and 2050.

Building so-called Smarter Cities has long been touted as a major goal for municipalities around the globe. But building systems capable of responding to events in real time is a major challenge for any government operating on a limited IT budget. The hope is that processes will become integrated enough to create a massive pool of data that will then be employed to drive any number of artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The problem is that while city governments typically have access to massive amounts of data, most of it resides in isolated systems run by departments that are often at odds with one another. In fact, Daniel Newman, principal analyst with Futurum, says smart cities are mostly a figment of vendor marketing imagination. "The trouble with smart cities is they don't exist yet," says Newman.

Facial recognition technology is penetrating deep into China. Cameras track passengers at railway stations, identify homeless people on the streets, and even monitor worshippers in state-approved churches. China's nation-wide surveillance project, named Skynet, began as early as 2005. But recent advances in artificial intelligence have given the state's surveillance efforts a boost. Join us for a live briefing as we dive into the Chinese government's AI strategy, what tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent are doing in AI, startup activity, and China's cross-border AI initiatives.

Here are the latest featured articles from IoT Central members and contributors. In this issue we look at 5 cities that are doing right in smart city development, a fascinating infographic that will get you up to speed on the history of autonomous vehicles, explore who will survive the era of robots, and much more. Reminder: All members are free to post on IoT Central. We feature the best content and share across our social networks and other channels. If you like what you're ready, considering forwarding this to a friend and encourage them to join our community here.