As an integral part of urban infrastructure, street lighting contributes to the safety and security of cities and represents a cost-efficient solution for smart cities, according to MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), a government think tank and IT leading research institute in Taiwan. The annual cost of street lighting accounts for about 40% of the city’s energy consumption.
Taiwan Smart City Development Project Office is the Taiwan government unit responsible for the development of smart cities. The Office commissioned by the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MoEA) has succeeded in helping Taiwanese industrial PC manufacturer AAEON introduce an artificial intelligence (AI) powered street light solution into the Qingpu area of Taoyuan City that improve energy efficiency. This intelligent street light solution has run a serious of applications such as weather stations, Digital Signage, road traffic flow monitoring, Wi-Fi hotspots, and shared smart street lamps. AAEON has cooperated with Taiwanese LED manufacturer OMA Lighting, IP camera manufacturer EverFocus, and international software providers such as Microsoft and Intel to launch a project to deploy smart-city AI on street lights. The Edge AI cameras are integrated into smart street lights to help identify the flow of people and traffic. If there is no vehicle passing by for more than 10 minutes, the street light will automatically dim by 50% to help save electricity by 12%.
The Smart Urban-Rural Project funded by the IDB of the MoEA has supported nearly 300 Taiwanese manufacturers, including 70 new startups, in eight areas including retail, health, energy, agriculture, tourism, safety management, transportation, and education. On top of that, the IDB has fostered up to 220 intelligent services in 22 counties and cities across Taiwan.