The Ministry of Environment on Wednesday said that it received a smart city award in the US for an air quality monitoring project submitted as part of a competition involving more than 700 smart city projects worldwide.
The Smart 20 Awards was organized by Smart Cities Connect, a US organization that holds an annual conference and expo bringing together influential figures in smart city solutions.
The award “annually recognizes global smart cities projects, honoring the most innovative and influential work,” information on its Web site says.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Environment via CNA
The ministry’s project, Advanced Air Quality Monitoring — Innovations and Applications of Mobile Air Quality Sensors, was one of 20 recipients of this year’s Smart 20 Awards.
It is the first Taiwanese central government agency to have received the honor and was invited to attend the awards ceremony in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday, the ministry said.
The ministry said in a news release that since 2017, it has employed advanced technologies such as sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence big data analysis for air quality monitoring.
The ministry has collaborated with 18 local governments to deploy about 10,000 air quality sensors, establishing an air quality sensing IoT network that provides “high temporal and spatial resolution and more real-time air quality information” to enable smart environment governance, the release said.
To further enhance the scope and mobility of air quality sensing, the ministry has since 2020 worked with the Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories of the Industrial Technology Research Institute to develop mobile air quality sensing devices and systems, the statement said.
The award-winning project demonstrates how mobile air quality sensors can identify potential sources of pollution and locate spots for on-site inspections, the ministry added.
The mobile sensors have been deployed to collect data for environmental governance applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Chiayi County and Hsinchu City, it said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
RSS