UM, CEM jointly promote smart city development

To support the Macao SAR government’s effort to develop Macao into a smart city, the University of Macau (UM) and the Company of Electricity of Macau (Companhia de Electricidade de Macau, CEM) today (9 June) signed a strategic collaboration framework agreement and a contract on studying the application of smart streetlights in Macao. According to the documents, both parties will carry out a series of forward-looking studies and will make full use of their strengths to promote smart city development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

UM and CEM will jointly conduct studies in the following areas: the application and development of electric vehicles in Macao; mining and analysis of electricity big data as well as its application; grid monitoring, early warning, and optimisation strategies in scenarios of urban disaster; the establishment of regular communication mechanisms between the two parties to strengthen collaboration in personnel training in areas such as smart city development, internet of things, smart energy, and big data. At the same time, CEM will commission UMTec Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UM, to analyse the technology, operation, regulations, and benefits of smart streetlights in Macao, and to summarise the experience of pilot projects into a research report that can provide guidance for future projects.

With the support of the Macao SAR government and the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund, UM received approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2018 to establish the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City. The lab aims to solve key scientific and technical issues in the field by proposing theories, algorithms, and systems with basic and common features. Equipped with a strong scientific research team, the lab is committed to providing new ideas for solving urban problems and providing technical support for smart city development in Macao, the Greater Bay Area, and the whole country.

As a company of public utilities for power supply, the management of streetlights, and the provision of public charging stations for electric vehicles, CEM actively supports the SAR government’s policies in related fields by focusing its resources on optimising power infrastructure and providing intelligent and modern power supply services. For instance, CEM set up the first public electric vehicle charging station in Pak Lane Car Park as early as 2010. The company also successfully installed and tested the smart streetlight system in 2019, paving the first step towards more extensive application of the system in the city.