00:00Digital Technologies and connectivity are helping to make urban areas cleaner, greener and more efficient.
00:19But smart cities also bring economic benefits, including new jobs, business and investment opportunities.
00:27Kazakhstan is one country embracing the smart thinking.
00:31So what's been the impact of smart cities and how are they changing urban living?
00:40Hello and welcome to East-West Connect.
00:43We're highlighting business and economic developments in Kazakhstan and the wider Central Asia region, connecting them with Europe and beyond.
00:53Projected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, the planet's population isn't standing still.
01:01In Kazakhstan, numbers are expected to hit 24 million over the next five years.
01:07More people means more demands and more impacts.
01:11Innovating in key sectors such as mobility, energy, health and education.
01:18Cities are embracing the likes of 5G, big data, AI and other connected technologies to future proof urban life.
01:28In Europe, revenues from smart city components and services are set to top 23.5 billion euros by 2029 and 42.6 billion in Asia.
01:42Amsterdam was an early adopter of the smart city concepts and now new tech solutions are being worked up there to help reach climate neutral.
01:52I spoke to a research lab involved.
01:57One of our key focus area within our research group is actually deploying sensors on moving vehicles such as garbage trucks and taxis.
02:04And in one of the ways we're doing this is with the project City Scanner, which we've been using in Cambridge in the United States.
02:11We've used them in Rome. We've used them in Amsterdam. We've used them in Beirut.
02:15And these sensors actually collect air quality data and they can scan greenery and see how healthy it is.
02:21So that helps us to hyper locally make assessments on the on the environment that citizens live in and hopefully help them get cleaner and better environments.
02:29What is crucial actually for all research is that you work with the city and that really leads to a lot of potential for economic growth.
02:37Think about startups that can leverage a new data set to see where where urban heat is highest in the city and then go to local businesses and propose solutions for them to increase shading or increase thermal comfort for pedestrians.
02:54Amsterdam is transforming and so is Kazakhstan's capital Astana, which is adopting smart tech in key sectors like transport.
03:03Take a look at this.
03:08Raquel, an English teacher from the US, is heading out to meet friends in Astana.
03:14She's taking the bus and is using an app to track its arrival in real time.
03:23Once on board, Raquel pays using a QR code linked to her bank account.
03:29I take the bus three or four times a week and I usually take it to go to my hobbies.
03:35I always use the smart systems compared to the US for sure.
03:40It's very convenient and cashless.
03:43Raquel is traveling on an electric bus, one of a hundred now on the roads of Astana.
03:58This city control room helps to keep buses and other traffic on the move, monitoring a
04:26network of cameras and traffic light sensors.
04:57Greener and more efficient.
05:00But what's Astana's smart thinking doing for business and the economy?
05:04I spoke to Astana Innovations, a company implementing the capital's transformation.
05:27We help to navigate the other IT projects, how to integrate with the system, like innovative infrastructure.
05:37Let's say if they don't have money to support the project, we can help them if their IT project is very relevant for us.
05:46In the utilities area, they already made an improvement.
05:49They integrated with other utilities, governmental companies, and now we see that the automation came very successfully.
05:57You also have in Astana a smart Astana app. Tell us how that works.
06:01We got the super app, which is called Smart Astana.
06:04In terms of health, you can get the appointment with the doctor.
06:08We have an air quality index over there.
06:11You can check in many parts of Astana where the air quality is good, where it's bad.
06:16You can monitor this.
06:19Also, there are many other features in this app, like buses, navigation, where they're going, the roads.
06:31What is the wider economic impact of having a smart city?
06:35In terms of economy, we would like to be closer to the world.
06:39First stage, we got the ISO certificate from the UN as a sustainable development goal.
06:45Now we are planning to make a new ISO certificate, which is emphasized on the smart city only.
06:52In order to improve the economy, we need to trade with other countries.
06:58I think this certificate is going to make Kazakhstan one step closer to the world,
07:04to create a very open environment and open economy for the world.
07:10As you look to the future, next few years, next 5-10 years, what is Smart Astana going to look like?
07:16As you know, Astana is growing very rapidly in terms of infrastructure.
07:21We have the same rhythm of growing the IT infrastructure, like innovative infrastructure.
07:29Because now we have an emphasis on the artificial intelligence, because it's trending in the world right now.
07:35It proves that it's a very useful tool to use to make people's lives easier.
07:45That's all we have time for in this edition of East-West Connect.
07:49But you can get more business news on our website, euronews.com.
07:53From all the team here, thanks for watching and bye for now.
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