Macau, 9 June 2020

The University of Macau (UM) and CEM signed the “Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement” and “Contract of Research on the Application of Smart Public Lighting in Macau” at UM on 9 June. Both sides pledge to tie in with the Macau SAR Government’s plan and requirements on building Macau into a smart city under a long-term and stable cooperation relationship. UM and CEM will leverage their respective advantages to carry out forward-looking and joint researches on subjects such as the application and development of electric vehicles (EV) in Macau; mining, analysis and application of electricity-related big data; grid monitoring, warning and optimization strategy amid urban natural disasters. Moreover, a regular bilateral communication mechanism will be established to strengthen cooperation in talent cultivation with respect to smart city, Internet of Things, smart energy and big data, and to push forward the development of related technologies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA). CEM will also commission UMTEC Limited – a wholly-owned subsidiary of UM, to analyze the technologies, operations, regulations and effectiveness of the application of smart streetlights in Macau. The results of the analysis, in conjunction with the experiences gained from related pilot projects, will be used as a basis to compile a research report providing guidance for future practices.

The signing ceremony for the “Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement” was officiated by  Prof. Yonghua Song, Rector of the UM and Bernie Leong, Chairman of CEM Executive Committee, under the witness of Horry Hui, Director of the Office for the Development of the Energy Sector of Macau SAR Government, Prof. Wei Ge, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UMTEC Limited and Vice Rector of UM, Prof. Zhixin Yang, Director of the Research Services and Knowledge Transfer Office of UM, Prof. Shaodan Ma, Assistant Director of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smarty City of UM, Shi Yulin, Executive Director of CEM and Benjamin Yue, Principal Advisor to CEM Executive Committee. The “Contract of Research on the Application of Smart Public Lighting in Macau” was signed by Prof. Wei Ge, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UMTEC Limited and Vice Rector of UM and Shi Yulin, Executive Director of CEM under the witness of Prof. Kam Weng Tam, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology of UM, Prof. Bing Shui, Associate Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences of UM, Prof. Ningyi Dai and Associate Professor of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smarty City of UM, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology of UM, Jane Leong, Director of Transmission and Distribution Department (Business Development) of CEM, Simon Young, Director of Transmission and Distribution Department (Power Network Management) of CEM and Alice Fong, Director or Finance Department of CEM.

With the support of Macau SAR Government and the Science and Technology Development Fund, UM was approved by the Central Government to establish the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City in 2018. Targeting to solve key scientific and technological issues in relation to the Internet of Things for smart city, the Laboratory aims to put forward fundamental and general theories, algorithms and systems and to explore the demonstrational applications of a smart city. The lab boasts a strong scientific research team which is dedicated to offering new solutions to address urban difficulties and provide technological support for smart city development in Macau, GBA, and the country as a whole.

As a public utility company responsible for supplying power, managing public lighting and providing public charging station service for EVs, CEM has been actively supporting Macau SAR Government’s policies and optimizing power infrastructure facilities to provide smart and modern power supply services. CEM set up the first public EV charging station at Pak Lane Car Park in 2010. The smart public lighting system was installed and tested in 2019, marking the first step towards deepening the construction of smart public lighting system and accelerating smart city development.

At the ceremony, Professor Yonghua Song said that UM has been actively participating in Macau’s smart city construction and was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China to set up the country’s first national key laboratory in the Internet of Things for smart city in July 2018. The laboratory’s positioning is to address the key science and technology problems in smart city, and put forward fundamental and general theories, algorithms and systems. Since its establishment, the key laboratory has started working in five areas, including smart sensor and communication network, urban big data and smart technology, smart energy, smart transportation, as well as urban public security and disaster prevention. The research on the application of the smart public lighting in Macau will be a very good starting point for UM and CEM jointly carry out a series of forward-looking cooperative researches and the transformation and application of new achievements and technologies and conduct all-round and multi-level cooperation in talent cultivation in a number of fields.

Bernie Leong said that making use of smart public lighting to collect environmental information is an important part of smart city development. In this regard, CEM carried out preliminary work of the smart public lighting pilot project in 2018 to align with the SAR Government's requirements and proceeded with installation and testing at UM, Avenida da Amizade and Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro in 2019. Meanwhile, CEM has continued cooperating with the Macau SAR Government to promote green drive policy. Following the conversion of some medium-speed charging devices to quick charging devices last year, a total of 30 EV charging parking spaces will be added to seven public car parks and two streets in the second quarter of this year. Nearly 80% of public car parks are equipped with EV charging stations, providing 200 EV charging parking spaces, with the ratio of charging parking spaces to EVs at about 1:3. Bernie Leong thanked UM for offering this cooperation opportunity. The Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed between the two sides is of great significance to the realization of CEM's goal of smart city power supply construction.

After the ceremony, Prof. Ningyi Dai, Associate Professor of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smarty City of UM and Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology of UM; and Kevin Lei, Manager of Network Strategy and Policy of CEM Transmission and Distribution Department gave presentations respectively on the construction and development of smart city in Macau. Prof. Ningyi Dai introduced the recent research programs and development plans of the Laboratory. She stated that the Laboratory will spare no efforts in working with the Macau SAR Government to build a smart city, nurturing high-level talents and applying innovative technologies to serve the community. Smart street lighting and the deployment of 5G technologies are the key components of smart city infrastructure development. Combining engineering applications with theoretical studies, this smart streetlight project in Macau will explore the most suitable smart streetlight development solution for Macau. In addition, during the project development, smart streetlight innovation competition for students will be jointly held by the Laboratory together with Macau Base for Primary and Secondary STEM Education and the Centre for Science and Engineering Promotion of UM. This is to promote smart streetlight and introduce its scientific details to Macau students and encourage them to participate in the building of smart city.

Kevin Lei shared an update on the pilot project of smart streetlights in Macau. He stated that after the launch of preliminary work of the pilot project in 2018, CEM has worked out the essential functions of smart streetlights by consulting with potential users. The 18-month trial run of the nine smart streetlights situated at three trial locations, namely, UM, Avenida da Amizade, and Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro, will soon end. In view of the fact that the technology, operation, regulations, and effectiveness regarding smart streetlights in Macau are yet to be clarified, it is necessary to combine the experience accumulated in the pilot project to establish a detailed analysis of relevant aspects as a basis for further application and promotion in Macau.

At the end of the Ceremony, all attendees had a site visit to the smart streetlights at UM with introduction of the functions and operations of smart streetlights by professionals.