Scanning goods one by one at the supermarket checkout may well soon be a thing of the past, as a new centre for innovation in Nanjing has officially opened, working on systems capable of simultaneously scanning all purchases, among other smart city solutions.
On 19 June, at the 2020 Intel Data Innovation Summit and New Product Launch, the Center for Smart Future Technology was officially unveiled. As an important part of Intel’s strategic cooperative program, “Smart Future Innovation Ecosystem”, the Center aims to create a forward-looking benchmark for city infrastructure development by co-building a 5G+ smart zone with an innovative ecosystem.
As well as the aforementioned smart retail experience, the Center is working on other smart city solutions, for office, conference, education, smart robotics and virtual reality.
Then there are the “multi-functional smart poles” that The Nanjinger reported on back in January when the initiative was first unveiled. Such smart street lamps are an ideal solution to the problems posed by the nature of 5G in rolling out citywide coverage.
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Operating at frequencies 10 or 100 times higher than 4G, the signals of 5G are quickly absorbed by foliage and buildings. Hence the idea of using the existing network of streetlights, albeit by replacing every single light with the new multi-functional smart poles.
With over 11 million street lights in Nanjing, 5G for everyone everywhere is not going to happen anytime soon. But that hasn’t stopped authorities from betting on it for the future. As to speculation that the much-lauded 5G is not as fast as has been made out, at the Center for Smart Future Technology this publication was witness to download speeds topping 700MB per second.
In 2020, in facing the novel coronavirus epidemic, the Nanjing municipal government decided to energetically implement its “New Four” policy; new infrastructure, new consumption, new industry and new city. Therein, most importance is being attached to new infrastructure, with the government planning to integrate digital economy, smart city and leading industrial development to promote innovation in all forms of business and models.
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The official opening of the Center for Smart Future Technology has also been timed to coincide with Nanjing Tech Week. Now in its sophomore year but without the large-scale, big name events that marked last year on account of Covid, Nanjing Tech Week in 2020 is a combination of online activities and smaller events, such as the opening of the Center.
Shen Jihong, Director of the Management Committee for Nanjing Economic & Technological Development Zone, said, “With the support from Intel’s leading products and solutions of hardware and software, the center for smart future technology will provide a unique implementation place, contributing to fully create ‘China’s intelligent valley’”.
Sammeer Sharma, global GM (Cities & Transportation) for IOT Solutions at Intel, said, “The smart zone solutions and the advanced smart traffic system designed for Nanjing not only show the latest solution for fields such as medical, security, education and traffic, but also, in the global vision, bring Nanjing the best solutions, the latest policies and the most famous industries”.
