Exclusive Interview with Goyang Smart City Team

Goyang is entitled the winner of the WeGO Gold Awards for its smart city Masterplan along with its initiatives for two consecutive times since 2017. Among all outstanding projects, Goyang’s smart city living lab projects are highly regarded to be effective by its citizens. weGO have the privilege to share with you the highlights from our exclusive interview with Mr. Ji Ho Shin, Vice Team Leader of the Smart City Team in Goyang to learn more about the city’s experience in living labs projects.

Q1: What is Goyang Smart City’s main pursuit?   

A1: Goyang city established a governance system where citizens can directly participate in solving various urban challenges. We develop smart city services in which citizens can get first-hand experience by identifying and resolving urban issues in collaboration with the citizens, as well as the public, and private sectors.

 

Q2: What type of project is Goyang Smart City Living Lab?  

A2: Goyang’s Smart City Living Lab is a project with a user-led innovation model where the local citizens create social value by addressing and tackling urban issues through ICT technologies. Goyang has implemented the project since 2018 through Smart City Support Center and facilitated Smart City Living Lab projects spearheaded by citizens in cooperation with academic and technical experts.

 

Q3: Why did Goyang initiate the Smart City Living Lab project? 

A3: In light of Goyang’s capacity in terms of advanced smart city infrastructure, experience in implementation of smart services, as well as the high participation rate of the citizens, the Living Lab project is the ideal and sustainable circular structure. Not only does the Living Lab project adapt the operation method and problem-solving process established by Goyang, but it also streamlines consistent management of the issues that occur in the process of execution and helps improve subsequent projects.

 

Q4: What are the main objectives of the Living Lab projects?

A4: There are two main objectives to Goyang’s Smart City Living Lab projects. One is to identify challenges through citizen’s demand and engagement, and solve them by applying ICT technologies in materializing the smart city services. The other is to commercialize empirical solutions and practices so as to support corporate growth by disseminating their accomplishments. Through Living Lab projects, Goyang aims to improve the quality of life for citizens and provide opportunities to create jobs and new businesses.

 

Q5:  How does Goyang support the Smart City Living Lab projects?  

A5:  Goyang City has promoted several living lab projects such as smart IoT walking path pilot project for safety around elementary school areas, smart safe road living lab pilot project, social problem solving living lab, and 5G quarantine service pilot living lab. To enable citizens to take the initiative in defining problems in the community and collaborate with various stakeholders to prepare and experiment with new alternatives, Goyang facilitated the selection of civic resolution groups, and supported operating expenses.

 

Q6: What steps does Goyang take for the implantation of Smart City Labs?

A6:  We embark on the Living Lab projects with the recruitment of teams made up of citizens with a sense of goal to solve local problems. To further define and understand the situation, the selected teams conduct field visits and surveys. Once the problem is specified, the teams consult with experts to explore solutions, and continue developing the plans in line with the feedback retrieved from the residents in the local communities. Through consultations, the teams carry out pilot projects through research and experiments in preparing prototypes, and manufacturing the test model in collaboration with technical experts from corporations and institutions.

 

Q7: Has Goyang faced any challenges executing the Living Lab projects?

A7: Civic participation being the center of Living Lab, each phase calls for all participating citizens to be on the same page, striving together towards solving the shared issue. Thus we find it crucial for each team to establish a common sense of direction through clear communication among one another despite varied opinions and conflicts.

No matter how advanced the incorporated ICT technology may be, if the actual users find no value, the project would be a waste. Thus it is of utmost importance to derive the applicable Living Lab projects, design detailed methodologies, and develop a structure of program operation based on specific types, location, and scope. And this is made possible through several experiences of constant empirical practices.

 

Q8: What kind of accomplishments did Goyang achieve through the initiative?

A8: Goyang has gained numerous practical achievements through the Living Lab projects, To be specific, the “Smart IoT Ventilation” Living Lab provided a pleasant indoor environment by automatically blocking fine dust and emitting indoor air through IoT sensors, and the “Smart Insole GPS Service” Living Lab established a social safety net for the elderly with developmental disabilities. As such, after installing notification boards in elementary schools’ safety zones through the “Smart IoT Walkway” project, more than 20%  of the vehicles reduced speed as they entered the safety zone.

 

Q9: How did citizens who participated in the projects respond to the initiative?  

A9: The Living Lab project has received positive engagement and feedback from many citizens. A resident who participated in the resolution commented during a meeting that she is a witness to the positive results of the project as she has seen prototypes being installed with her own eyes, and has experienced the changes in the neighborhood. Another citizen commended that the project effectively solved the exact inconveniences without trial and error through the help of the experts.

 

Q10: What’s Goyang’s plan to further develop the Living Lab projects?

A10: Goyang will continue to run programs for citizens to share knowledge and experience in relation to the Living Lab project, and to promote efforts to improve citizens’ quality of life, and foster new industries by utilizing innovative technologies in the era of the 4th industrial revolution through sustainable developments.

 

Q11: Would you like to say a word to our WeGO members? 

A11: Hello WeGO members, it’s our delight to share Goyang’s Smart City Living Lab projects with you through WeGO’s newsletter. We hope our experience can be of useful reference to you, and wish we can meet and discuss in person in the near future. Thank you!