Huawei to boost digital economy with safety tech

Amy Lin, senior vice president of Huawei, said the firm would reinforce its mission to drive public safety innovation through key technologies and initiatives. She was speaking at a media roundtable during the recent Huawei Asia Pacific Innovation Day 2017.
To that end, the firm has helped fund the Brookings Institute’s report on public safety of cities around the world. The report examines the ways digital technology, mobile networks, and integrated solutions help authorities in 17 global cities manage public safety and law enforcement. 
Lin said the report would strongly urge governments and local city authorities to invest in public safety in a bid to boost digital prosperity.
“We will continue to partner and work with the relevant authorities to identify opportunities and strengthened solutions related to public safety and smart city projects across the world,” she said.
The firm has committed to investing in research and development, and for two decades has supported technological innovation, she added.
“We are ready to provide tailor-made solutions to meet customer needs, such as urban characteristics and social habits. We are willing to help the cities to become more secure, so that people can live happier through its products and solutions.”
Darrell West, vice president of Brookings Institute, said they conducted the research because public safety plays a pivotal role in fostering the digital economy around the globe.
He argued that digital technologies promote stronger ties between law enforcement and the community by integrating solutions such as video, data, and analytics to create effective solutions, and to offer authorities stronger tools for outreach and on-the-ground coordination. 
“Cities face barriers such as poor funding, infrastructure difficulties, public resistance, a lack of technical expertise, privacy and security concerns. But it is crucial for leaders to overcome these obstacles,” West said.

Social inclusion drive 
“In the report, we have identified many opportunities for cities to build their economies and promote social inclusion through public safety innovation.” Included is a list of recommendations intended to help cities reap the benefits of digital technology to improve the living standards of their citizens, he said.
The report revealed considerable variations in safe-city innovation between cities studied, including implementation progress and adoption of best practices.
West said they selected the cities for their economic importance to their region. But he admitted a number of important cities were not included due to the time constraint. 
“It is a global project which took us over a year. There are lots of places we would like to study in the world but we had to consider the choice of data available in accordance with our 24 indicators,” he said.
He did not reveal the total cost of the report. Yet, he hinted another similar report could be published in two years, focusing on different cities.
The study included four cities in Asean – Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta. Singapore topped the list by achieving full points in its six categories – metro vision, digital infrastructure, public safety effectiveness, use of data analytics, community engagement and safety adoption. 
It was followed by Copenhagen, London, Amsterdam, and Madrid in the list of top five cities. Bangkok ranked 10th in the study, earning 96 points out of 120 and standing ahead of Bogota, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Astana, Kuwait City, Cairo and Abuja. 
Bangkok scored full points in two categories – metro vision and community engagement, but is yet to improve in safety adoption and use of data analytics. Yet, West hopes to see substantial improvement in Bangkok’s public safety in the years to come.