Skip to main content Start main content

PolyU hosts Global Smart Cities Summit cum the 3rd International Conference on Urban Informatics attracting over 500 global scholars and industry professionals

21 Aug 2023

Events Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI)

The GSCS & ICUI 2023 Opening Ceremony was attended by Prof. Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, HKSAR Government (5th from left); PolyU President Prof. Jin-Guang Teng (5th from right); Prof. John Wenzhong Shi, Director of SCRI and President of ISUI (4th from left); Mr Tony WONG, Government Chief Information Officer (4th from right); Prof. Michael GOODCHILD, Member of the National Academy of Sciences (3rd from left); Prof. Michael BATTY, Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Society (2nd from left); Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation) (3rd from right); Dr Otto POON, Founder of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation (2nd from right); Prof. GONG Peng, Vice President and Pro-Vice Chancellor, of The University of Hong Kong (1st from left); and Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (1st from right).

Prof. Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, HKSAR Government delivered the opening address.

PolyU President Prof. Jin-Guang Teng said PolyU had been working on smart city and geomatics computing for the benefit of society.

Prof. Wenzhong Shi, Director of SCRI, introduced the new ISUI Smart City Index jointly published by the ISUI and SCRI.

The Conference features keynote speeches by internationally leading scientists and has attracted over 500 scholars and industry experts from around the world.


The Global Smart Cities Summit cum the 3rd International Conference on Urban Informatics (GSCS & ICUI 2023), organised by the International Society for Urban Informatics (ISUI) and the PolyU Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI), commenced today. This three-day conference has attracted over 500 participants globally and over 230 speakers will share their insights and research on urban informatics and smart cities.

At the Opening Ceremony, Prof. SUN Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, HKSAR Government, delivered the opening address. He said, “I wish to thank PolyU for bringing together experts, researchers, industry players, policy makers and investors from around the world, who are strong advocates for smart cities, at this biennale event in Hong Kong. I am sure you are all looking forward to, and will benefit from, the enlightening sharing by the many distinguished speakers in the week to come.”

Prof. Jin-Guang TENG, President of PolyU, said, “Smart cities research is one of PolyU’s strategic development areas. We have been working on topics including smart city and spatial big data analytics, remote sensing, and geomatics computing for many years. In 2020, we took a big step by establishing the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute, which is hosted within the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research - the largest research platform of its kind in the Greater Bay Area. Through mission-driven interdisciplinary research, PolyU aims to solve pressing societal challenges and foster a more sustainable future for our world.”

GSCS & ICUI 2023 aims at promoting global smart city development and advances in urban informatics. This year’s conference received 300 abstract submissions from 21 countries and regions. As an emerging interdisciplinary field, urban informatics is the foundational science and technology for smart cities. The Conference features keynote speeches by internationally leading scientists, forums and technology innovation exhibitions. It provides an excellent platform for exchanging information about state-of-the-art technologies and innovations in smart cities and urban informatics.

In addition to encouraging academia-industry collaboration and technological innovation, GSCS & ICUI 2023 aims to position Hong Kong as a vanguard of smart city development. Announced at the Opening Ceremony were introduction of the new ISUI Smart City Index jointly published by the ISUI and SCRI, and developed by a team led by SCRI Director Prof. John Wenzhong SHI; as well as the winners of the Outstanding Achievement Award in Urban Informatics. The ISUI Smart City Index is the first index for evaluating smart-city development that is fully based on publicly available data. With 98 indicators focusing on the impact that smart cities have on the day-to-day lives of citizens, the Index will be able to help cities self-diagnose and improve their smart-city development comprehensively from a human-centric perspective. The Outstanding Achievement Award in Urban Informatics honours world-renowned scholars in recognition of their significant contributions to the field of Urban Informatics.

More information on GSCS & ICUI 2023 may be found at: https://www.isocui.org/icui2023 .

***END***

Press Contacts

Annie Wong

Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs

Your browser is not the latest version. If you continue to browse our website, Some pages may not function properly.

You are recommended to upgrade to a newer version or switch to a different browser. A list of the web browsers that we support can be found here