ABB and Danang take on smart city network initiative

Several projects have been underway in raising Vietnamese cities towards smart status, and ABB’s partnership with Danang joins the list

Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between ABB and the Danang Department of Information and Communications signed last week, the multinational group will support Danang in the areas of clean water and leakage management, waste and wastewater management, data centre expansion, and help establish a marine operations centre.

In its role as a technology partner, ABB will continue to invest into research and development, and support Danang to develop technological solutions to become more sustainable, competitive, and liveable.

In addition, the group will help authorities approach international experts, and connect with other smart city models across the globe to access knowledge and expertise.

Danang was ranked in the top 10 of cities worth living in, according to a survey last year by Live and Invest Overseas, the world’s source for information on international living and retiring abroad. The popular tourist destination was also recently ranked 15th among a list of 52 places to visit in 2019 by the New York Times.

In recent years, Danang has actively made efforts to modernise its infrastructure, and has achieved a number of significant milestones, including being the leading city on the Vietnam ICT Index, which ranks the readiness for ICT development and applications, for 10 consecutive years, and being one of only two cities in Southeast Asia, alongside Singapore, to use chatbot app technology to promote tourism.

Brian Hull, managing director of ABB in Vietnam, said, “We are proud to partner with Danang in its journey to make improvements in sustainability, quality of life, and economic growth. ABB products and solutions are at the heart of a city’s critical ­infrastructure, relied upon for ­everything from the supply of power, water, and heat, to the automation of the factories and buildings we work in. We will bring our wealth of ­experience in global deployment of similar smart city projects to support Danang in accomplishing its vision.”

The MoU signing ceremony was part of a workshop organised by the Danang Department of Information and Communications on the building of a smart city in Danang. At the event, ABB delivered a keynote speech titled building a smart city and the technologies required to bring about a liveable environment.

ABB already has a track record in projects and smart city development in Vietnam. In particular, the Ho Chi Minh City water distribution capacity enhancement project enabled its ­customer, Saigon Water Supply Corporation (SAWACO), to monitor network ­conditions digitally through multiple data collection points and offer ­actionable insights to reduce non-­revenue water. It is estimated that SAWACO will save 50 million cubic metres of water per year, equivalent to a cost saving of more than $10 million annually.

Since 1993, ABB has been a pioneering technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation, and robotics and motion, serving customers globally in utilities, industry, transport, and ­infrastructure. ABB currently operates in more than 100 countries and employs 150,000 ­people.