MSAR, Alibaba agree to make Macao a smart city

Representatives of the Macao SAR Government and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. signed on 4 August 2017 a Framework Agreement of Strategic Co-operation on Smart City Development, a scheme to use cloud computing and big data processing to improve public services in the city.

Witnessed by Macao Chief Executive Chui Sai On and Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Jack Ma, Chief Executive°¶s Office Chief-of-Office O Lam and Alibaba Cloud President Hu Xiaoming signed the agreement.

The agreement will be implemented in two phases. In the first phase, which will last until June 2019, a cloud computing data centre will be built in Macao, and the Macao SAR Government will manage the data mapping. The parties to the agreement will gradually begin projects using a range of big data services to accelerate the development of Macao in several fields, including tourism, information technology training, transport management, medical services and urban management. Preliminary results are expected to be seen at the end of 2018.

The second phase will last from July 2019 until June 2021. Apart from continuing to improve the infrastructure in Macao, the parties to the agreement will begin projects to do with environmental protection, customs clearance procedures and economic forecasting models.