In an unprecedented fashion, Shenzhen is currently striving to become a world-class new-type smart-city benchmark by increasing digitalization in social governance. In 2019, Shenzhen was ranked first among Chinese cities in terms of smart city development, according to the Information Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. It superseded the others, such as Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, with flying colours, having earned a comprehensive score of 77.4 points and been awarded a prize for taking the lead in smart city construction. How did Shenzhen achieve such a result?
The Shenzhen government has invested substantial resources to upgrade its smart city and digital government construction. In order to achieve this goal, Shenzhen is learning from other world-class cities to form a sound data management and security system, rapidly expanding the use of applications of big data, artificial intelligence, 5G and blockchain, and opening a new space in the digital world by promoting the integration of technologies, data and businesses across regions, systems, departments and industries.
With great determination and ambition, Shenzhen has been ready to face the challenges and opportunities of the digital era. Shenzhen plans to develop a new type of smart city operation and management system that is comprised of one city center, 11 district centers and numerous industrial centers. The Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government has also implemented a one-stop system that automatically reviews the applicants’ information of service items and approves their applications.
Regarding the livelihood, the information on personal documents, such as identity documents, driver’s licenses, social insurance, library and bank cards, will be integrated into one single account, through which residents can enjoy different types of services via fingerprint, facial recognition, identity card number or phone number. All such services will be consolidated on an official app.
