Taiwan Today

Pingtung County has progressed to the finals of internationally renowned green energy competition IBM Smarter Cities Challenge, according to the local government Nov. 23. “We are the only Taiwan municipality to make the final cut this year and were selected on the strength of our renewable energy promotion plan,” Pingtung County Magistrate Tsao Chi-hung said. “It is an honor to be chosen along with 30 other metropolises such as Tokyo, Copenhagen and Christchurch.” The challenge, which aims to help cities around the world deal with environmental, health, finance and security issues, uses innovative technology to draft smart city blueprints. With a budget of US$50 million, it is International Business Machine Corp.’s largest philanthropic program to date. Launched in 2011, the competition draws upon IBM’s global network of experts in tackling environmental challenges. It is widely considered to be a major agent of change in local government green policymaking. The only other Taiwan municipality to have made the finals of the challenge was Taipei City in 2012. (SH-JSM)