Daegu Underground Infrastructure Management System and
| Busan Eco Delta Smart Water Project
| Awarded in Administration and Smart Water sectors respectively

It has been found that the smart city capabilities of Daegu and Busan are among the best in the Asia-Pacific region.

IDC announced on the 10th that it selected a total of 17 outstanding smart projects across 12 functional smart city award categories at the '2019 Smart City Asia Pacific Awards (SCAPA)'.

Domestically, Daegu Metropolitan City's 'Underground Infrastructure Management System' and Busan Metropolitan City's 'Busan Eco Delta Smart City-Smart Water Project' were selected as the best projects in the administration and smart water sectors, respectively.

SCAPA, now in its fifth year, uses IDC’s Smart City Development Index framework to select government and public institutions and private companies that are evaluated as outstanding in 12 smart city e-service areas categorized by function.

Since SCAPA began in 2015, various challengers have participated, including Korean city governments (Incheon, Daejeon, Busan, etc.), the Singapore Technology Agency, the Taipei City Government, and Chinese city governments (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing).

Daegu City's 'Underground Infrastructure Management System,' selected as the best project in the administrative sector, was recognized for developing the SPI (Smart Pipe Indicator) application, which enables users to receive information on various underground utilities, such as water supply, sewage, city gas, and communication networks, via smartphone using intelligent buried pipeline recognition indicator (NFC) tags.

Previously, information regarding underground buried pipelines was verified by each management agency, but now, if users use the SPI application, they can check information on the status of the seven major pipelines built in Daegu Suseong Alpha City, such as their burial location and depth, anytime and anywhere.

The 'Busan Eco Delta Smart City - Smart Water Project' currently underway in Busan has been selected as the best project in the smart water sector. This project was designated as a national smart city pilot project by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in early 2018 to solve water pollution problems, and aims to implement innovation based on 4th industrial revolution technologies for the ecological environment around three rivers.

The Busan Eco Delta Smart City Project is expected to serve as a comprehensive model for water resource management technologies (rainwater treatment, wastewater reuse) aimed at restoring natural water circulation within the city, as well as develop an eco-friendly waterfront city that citizens can trust and use.

"At this year's SCAPA, the rapid progress of established advanced cities in the Asia-Pacific region, such as Daegu and Busan, was notable," said Kim Kyung-min, Senior Research Analyst for Smart Cities at IDC Korea. "IDC forecasts that global spending on smart cities will reach $189.5 billion by 2023, with projects related to transportation, public safety, utilities, and education accounting for more than half."

He added, “Domestic as well, based on various domestic pilot projects such as the Smart City Challenge and private-sector-led initiatives such as Smart Campus, we expect to gain further momentum and grow even more next year.”

The Asia-Pacific winner is determined through benchmarks by IDC researchers, public voting, and evaluations by an international advisory committee. This year, winners from the Asia-Pacific region will compete with smart city winners from other regions to have the opportunity to be selected as the world's best Asia-Pacific smart city projects in a total of 12 award categories.

More information about the IDC Smart City Asia Pacific Awards and winning projects can be found on the website .