ASEAN Smart Cities Network Private Sector Committee: Concept Note is produced by the ASEAN Smart Cities Network in Vietnam, as the Chairman of ASEAN this year. The E-Book captured the latest planning of the private sector advocacy in smart city development in Southeast Asia. In November, Future City Summit and Good City Foundation are invited to be the Private Sector Committee of ASEAN Smart Cities Network, on behalf of Thailand.

1. CONCEPT NOTE
e-Forum for
Smart City Development
TAKING ASCN TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH
PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION
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2. Hanoi, April 2020
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3. ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) was established at the 32nd ASEAN
Summit in 2018. In the ASEAN Chairmanship 2020, Vietnam wishes to
promote the private sector involvement in developing smart cities.
After consultation with some corporations that are active in the field of
smart cities, IEC Group has come up with the idea of an E-Forum for Smart City
Development, an online community with the view to taking ASCN to the next
level with the participation of the private sector. It is proposed that the E-Forum
be hosted by Vietnam’s Central Economic Commission and Ministry of
Construction.
It is expected that after being licensed, the E-Forum will go into trial
operation in June 2020 which initially restricted to invited members in Vietnam
and some MNCs or enterprises in Singapore before its official launch in July,
2020. Once being run effectively, the E-Forum’s member network will be
expanded under its general regulations with a high priority given to ASCN
member cities. Besides, after the discussion on external partners at the Annual
meetings, ASCN will also decide how to connect with the forum for the benefits
of ASCN members.
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4. CONCEPT NOTE
Chap 1. Rationale 4
1. ASCN and emerging challenges in smart city development in Southeast Asia 4
2. Advantages of E-Forum establishment 6
Phần 2. Introduction of E-Forum 8
1. Name 8
2. Objectives 8
3. Organizational Structure 9
4. Operational Mechanism 10
5. Forum Funding 11
6. Timeline and Action Plan 12
CHAP 1. RATIONALE
1. ASCN and emerging challenges in smart city development in Southeast Asia
Overview
Over the past decades, most of ASEAN’s growth has been driven by
urban centres, with 90 million more people expected to urbanise by 2030 and
“middleweight” cities of between 200,000 and 2 million residents forecast to
drive 40% of the region’s growth. However, this rapid urbanisation is not
without its challenges as it has implications on important issues such as city
congestion, water/air quality, poverty, rising inequalities, urban-rural divide, housing
and other.
Technological and digital solutions can be utilised to resolve these issues and to
enhance quality and accessibility of services, thereby improving our citizens’ lives
across the urban-rural continuum, and creating new opportunities for them.
The ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) is established in 2018 at the 32nd
ASEAN Summit in Singapore to synergise those efforts of smart city projects
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5. seperately as well as on a regional level.
Currently, 26 ASCN member cities including both capitals and non-capital
cities from ASEAN member states are identified, which allows the member cities to
take advantages of capitals with a higher level of development.
In addition, after two years of operation, it can be seen that the ASCN should
continue to improve its ability to identify potential PPP projects as well as to apply the
demand-based approach if possible in 2020.
In this context, ASCN, with a variety of opportunities and challenges, will not
only need a technology-based approach or infrastructure investment to achieve the
goal of smart cities. There will be an urgent call for smart urban governance, inclusive
economy and urban development strategies.
Shaping projects for ASEAN smart cities
Issues:
It seems that many smart city projects are invested heavily on amenities and
utilities provision without taking local identities into due consideration, such as
projects heavily focus on flycam or self-driving cars.
Meanwhile, our region is profoundly shaped by the effects of culture, religion
in which language, cuisine and rituals play an important role. We are also influenced
by such events and forces around the world as religious extremism, terrorism, the tug
of war between traditional and emerging forces. The current approach of ASCN seems
to be inclinable to seek for project funding instead of cultivating the identities we
share.
Opportunities: The reality urges to clarify the interconnectedness of our
identity, the ASEAN people. We are all making impacts on each other in terms of
cuisine, art and cultural and religious activities. Therefore, smart urban projects also
need to reflect the region's identity as the “soft power” to enrich ASEAN.
The ASCN should include the methods of how to encourage people’s creativity,
culture and beliefs to shape a unique characteristic of ASEAN smart cities. The fact
that Hanoi has been recognized by UNESCO as the Creative capital of Southeast Asia
has proved Vietnam's determination to contribute to the region.
In the context of rapid globalization, creativity can be seen more and more in
every field. Especially, when the future economic activities is redefined by Industry
4.0 and people’s physical and mental health become an epicenter of social
development, there is a need for creativity in urban areas more than ever.
Fortunately, cities always foster creativity, though in many cases it can only
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6. exist in a fragmented way and on small issues. This is the consequence of a lack of
systematic thinking in mapping out urban development plans that can maximize the
positive effects of creativity. This requires leaders of both public and private sector to
collaborate in urban development to realize these issues.
Political stability of ASEAN, which is better than that of other regions, is
favorable conditions to promote public and private cooperation; its featured lifestyle
and precious natural resources are very respectable and need to be preserved. As
citizens and professionals of cities, it is believed that these things would be achievable
in Southeast Asia.
Challenges: In many ASEAN countries, plans implemented at various levels of
government are proposed by the private sector. Sometimes the problem is not that
there is no planning but there is no roadmap to implement the approved plans.
Therefore, there is a growing need to focus on implementation mechanisms to ensure
that we are ready to adapt to drastic changes of high-speed urbanization in ASEAN.
The success of other countries in the world has shown the potential of an
effective implementation mechanism, which is a public-private partnership model with
clear regulations, along with active funding and investor attraction models. The fact
that many large-scale infrastructure projects have been implemented under these
models has shown the necessity of promoting public-private dialogue and cooperation
towards the goal of building smart cities.
2. Advantages of E-Forum establishment
The aforementioned analysis indicates the necessity of forming a means of
promoting dialogue between municipal governments, who are eager to have smart city
projects implemented, with the active private sector that possesses huge resources to
invest, implement and provide innovative solutions. A convinient, open and
transparent dialogue is the key for stakeholders to share their concerns and create
valuable partnerships.
Cities in ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular are carrying different
approaches to the goal of developing smart cities. On the other hand, the application of
smart urban solutions may bring about both benefits and risks at the same time.
Therefore, in order to minimize risks and to seek for the right solutions, local
authorities often need to be advised by reputable consulting agencies. The
establishment of a professional community in the field of smart cities will enable the
industry’s experts to to provide useful information as well as creat a chance for
private corporations in related fields to share their capabilities for top considerations of
city leaders. The connection and dialogues hence give the public sector a channel to
access a broad array of solution providers .
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7. In July 2020, ASEAN Smart Cites Summit & Expo & ASCN Annual Meetings
will tentatively take place in Hanoi, Vietnam with the participation of over 50
world-leading technology corporations in the field of smart cities. Therefore, it would
be greatly convenient to make use of the event’s official website and available contacts
to connect participated companies with cities that are keen on smart transformation.
Initial ideas have been discussed with representatives from enterprises,
including Grab,…… and VCCI. All have expressed their supports for the idea and
willingness to become a member if the E-forum is established.
IEC Group is a leading company in event organization, market research and
communication services in Vietnam. The company has extensive experience in
organizing and maintaining social networking activities such as the CEO Network
with nearly 200 members.
Mr. Retnam Shamuga, Former Chairman, Data Driven Marketing Association
of Singapore, who has promoted this idea, is an experienced and reputable figure in
the region, especially in promoting business networking activities. He is also the
author of the successful World Cities Summit Singapore organized every 2 years. In
2017, he also successfully proposed the idea of Vietnam City Branding Summit hosted
by UNESCO Vietnam. He is currently promoting the participation of Vietnamese
cities at the World Cities Summit Singapore in 2021.
In conclusion, the establishment of an E-Forum on Smart City Development is
very necessary, feasible and matches with the current trends. Specific explanation of
the E-Forum will be presented in more details in Chapter 2.
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8. Chap 2. Introduction of E-Forum
1. Name:
- English name: E-Forum for Smart City
- Vietnamese name: Diễn đàn phát triển đô thị thông minh
- Abbreviation: e-SCD
2. Purposes
Creating a channel for connecting public-private partnerships in sharing
experiences, insights and solutions with a common goal of developing smart urban
systems. The forum will be set up and launched in Vietnam then expanded to ASCN
member cities.
- Share knowledge, experience and enhance cooperation in building smart
cities:
○ Smart urban planning based on the unique identities of cities: Cities
have different development characteristics and conditions, so we cannot
apply similar planning and technology applications to all cities. The
projects should be studied and applied depending on the conditions and
must be in sync with the common infrastructure of the region.
○ Proposal for strengthening public-private cooperation through a
cohesive network of urban solution providers: Currently, single fields
support the development of smart cities such as technology, finance, real
estate, and design, etc. are developing and innovating. However,
comprehensive policies and plans for building smart cities are not yet
complete, requiring systematic thinking from a city planning perspective
that can maximize the impact of these innovations.
○ Connecting cooperation and investment collaborations to design a
smart city: Inviting projects and ideas that will be implemented will
increase the capacity and execution potential thanks to the sustainable
financial support from financial – banking enterprises and investment
funds, in essence to leverage on private sector to support the
implementation of effective and sustainable strategies for the public
sector.
- E-Forum to serve as a catalyst for networking opportunities between ASCN
members and the private sector
- Recognition of Best Practices through an Annual event and award ceremony
for initiatives of the private sector in the field of smart cities. To act as depository of
knowledge in the implementation of bankable strategies from economic city branding
to technology infrastructure for creating livable and vibrant cities.
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9. 3. Organizational structure
The E-Forum is expected to be run by the Board of Management (BoM) with
the support of the Board of Secretary set up by the BoM. Advisory Council will be in
charge of giving appraisal and advices on professional issues, and guiding discussions
when required. Besides, some international independent experts will be invited as
honored advisors. The organizational structure of the E-Forum is as follows:
- Hosts: Central Economic Commission and Ministry of Construction (Vietnam)
- Board of Management:
1. Ms. Nguyen Van Anh, CEO, IEC Group
2. Mr. Shanmuga Retnam, Partner, MARA - Market Access & Regulatory
Affairs (Vietnam), Former Chairman, Data Driven Marketing Association of
Singapore.
- Board of Secretary: IEC Group (General Secretary: Ms. Dung Nguyen, Strategy
& Content Director, IEC Group)
● In charge of the Forum’s operation (both online & offline activities)
● In charge of the Forum’s summary reports (on an annual/quarter basis)
● Be responsible for fund management of the Forum
● Advisory Council:
1. Ms Thao Griffiths, Policy Advisor to President, VCCI
2. Mr Noel Huppont, General Director, ABB Vietnam
3. Ms Annabella Ng, Head of Regional Strategy, Public Affairs, GRAB
4. Mr Patrick Tay, Senior Partner, PWC, Malaysia
5. Mr Lam Nguyen Ngoc Boc, Chief Executive Officer, Ecotek
6. Mr Duong Van Thinh, President, Vietnam AI & Datacentre Club
7. Mr Ronnie Gan, Head of Smart Infrastructure, Siemens, Singapore
8. Mr Andre Kwok, Chairman, Good City Foundation, Thailand
9. Mr Andres Larre, Advisor, Fundacion Metropoli, Spain
10. Representative from VNPT
11. Representative from Viettel
12.Representative from BKAV
● Consulting Experts:
1. Mr Khoo Teng Chye, Executive Director, Centre of Liveable Cities
(Singapore)
2. Dr Paul Temporal, Oxford Said Business School, Oxford University
3. Dr Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General, United Cities of
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10. Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG Aspac)
● Members:
● Public sector: all local government agencies (including
ministries/departments, local authorities etc.) and agencies/institutions
established by the government are willing to share smart city
experiences.
● Industrial members: All companies and enterprises possess the
technology/product(s)/service(s) to solve urban problems, and are
willing to engage in the community. (Membership fee required)
● Academic/Corporate Body Members: all academic research
units/associations/foundations/organizations, etc possess smart city
solutions/knowledge/expertise, and are willing to engage in
communications and exchanges on the community. (Membership fee
required)
4. Operational mechanism
4.1. Online
- After being approved as a Member of the Forum, your organization/company
will be given an account to sign-in and be able to post and comment in the Forum
(Only one account for one organization/company)
The Member should also provide a brief introduction and contact information to
enhance further communications.
- E-Forum Quarterly Survey – will serve as a mechanism to anticipate the needs
of the marketplace by conducting regular private sector surveys to better serve the
needs of our members
- Daily activities:
+ Members can upload posts on the Forum regarding their activities with
hashtags by field (compulsory) for the sake of convenience (i.e # Tech & Solutions
#Energy #Mobility #Governance #Planning #Waste #Water, etc.) Members’ posts can
be used by the Forum to upload on marketing channels for promotion.
+ Members’ posts will be censored by the Board of Secretariat
+ Advisory Council will be consulted when members have proposals on
specific areas or issues. The Advisory Council may consult with independent experts
to guide the discussion if needed. Additionally, the Council can comment on members’
discussions
+ The number of posts per month will be restricted by the level of the Member
(Gold/Silver/Bronze). For the first year, each member should upload at least 01 post
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11. and no more than 03 posts per month. After one year, the Member that violates the
posting regulation more than 3 times will be subject to a warning or the suspension of
its membership.
- Quaterly activities: Online Seminars (by fields such as Energy, Utilities,
Water, Waste, etc.) will be informed to Members by e-invitation in advance.
4.2. Offline:
- National & regional events: Held annually in Vietnam (For example: Smart
City Summit, Vietnam City Branding Summit, etc)
- Support the World Cities Summit 2021 in Singapore with a delegation of
E-Forum members
- Other activities: Workshop, Conferences, Expo, etc (managed by the Advisory
Council and Board of Secretary)
5. Forum funding
1. From Membership fees:
- Call for members:
+ Send invitation letters to confirmed sponsors of ASEAN Smart Cities Summit
& Expo & ASEAN Annual Meetings
+ Send invitation letters to ASCN member cities via ASCN
+ Post registration link and promote the Forum on marketing channels of IEC
- Membership rights:
+ To exchange & discuss with valued and leading experts
+ To exchange & discuss with public officials in charge of smart cities
+ To make use of the marketing channels owned by the Forum
+ To participate in the Forum activities (both online & offline) to connect with
all stakeholders in the region, expand your network and create valuable partnerships.
+ To keep updated with latest smart city projects
- Membership obligations:
+ To pay the membership fee when due
+ To contribute to the Forum by taking part in our activities
2. From Sponsors (of offline activities)
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12. 6. Key Milestones and Action Plan
1. Key Milestones of E-Forum:
● 2020: Tentatively attract about 100 members
● 2021:
- Tentatively attract up to 150 members
- Release a report on Vietnam’s smart cities
- Inaugural of Vietnam Smart city Summit
● 2022:
- Tentatively attract up to 200 members
- Launch of the Annual Awards. Applications by prospective members are reviewed
by the Board of Secretary and approved by the Board of Management and Advisory
Council
2. Action Plan:
Timeline Activities Note
April 2020 Preparation period:
- Completing the Forum’s action
plan
- Forming the Advisory Council,
Board of Secretariat
- Building the marketing plan
- Register with Ministry of
Information and Communications
for license to run the E-Forum
May 2020 Sending invitations to potential
members to make sure of the
minimum number of members
June 2020 Lauch the E-Forum on website
July 2020 Launching Ceremony of the
E-Forum (Offline event)
September 2020 Online Seminar 1 Can be accompanied by
other workshops, expos,
conferences, etc.December 2020 Online Seminar 2
March 2021 Online Seminar 3
May - July 2021 Offline 1
- 1st year summary event
- Release the 1st year summary
report
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