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.
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