On December 1, 2021, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) held the first meeting of the Expert Committee for the Promotion of Smart City Model Projects.

Under the Model Project, since FY 2019, the MLIT has provided financial support and direct consultation from the government for pioneering initiatives that will lead the nation into an early commercialization of this project. The Model Project aims for the social implementation of "Smart Cities" that improve the quality of urban life by solving urban issues and creating new value through new technologies such as AI and IoT. To date, support has been provided to a total of 51 districts, comprising leading model projects (27 projects) and priority commercialization promotion projects (24 projects).

The MLIT convened the committee of academics from architecture, system design, and economics to summarize the findings and challenges facing the projects. At the meeting, the MLIT explained the lessons learned and issues raised from the Smart City Model Project demonstrations regarding the promotion system, cost burden, citizen participation based on the data, and the exchange of opinions among the members . As reference material, a report on the demonstration experiment on safe personal mobility (for the elderly, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable transportation users) using vital data was included.

For more information, please visit the website below (Japanese only):
https://www.mlit.go.jp/report/press/toshi07_hh_000182.html