World Gaming Magazine

16 WGM #53 2017/12 wgm8.com 封面故事 COVER STORY “Leveraging our technological advancement and experience into this tailored project, we are confident that the success of Macau’s digital transformation will serve as an example of a truly smart city in the region.” The partnership will include two phases. The first phase, running until June 2019, will comprise the construction of a cloud computing data center in Macau as well as the data mapping stage of information managed by the government. During this first phase, a number of projects will be gradually launched using a range of big data services in order to accelerate Macau’s development in tourism, the training of information technology professionals, transportation management, medical services and urban management. The second phase of the agreement covers the period from July 2019 to June 2021. Aside from the ongoing optimization of information technology infrastructure acrossMacau, projects related to environmental protection, custom clearance procedures and forecasting models for Macau’s economy will be completed. Other cooperation areas will include the development of an integrated system for public services, enhancement of tourism services by applying information technologies to turn Macau into a smart tourism city, building a smart transportation network and launching certificate programmes to train more professionals in B2B e-commerce and Alibaba Cloud information technology. Macau is the latest city to link up with Alibaba on smart city development, with the company having previously developed Hangzhou City Brain in October 2016 based on artificial intelligence and deep learning. That system sends out instant traffic alerts and route suggestions, offering real-time predictions of traffic movement to reduce congestion. The system, piloted in Xiaoshan District, has improved traffic speed by up to 11%. It’s worth noting, too, that Galaxy Entertainment Group last month became the first Macau hotel group to offer WeChat Pay for mainland Chinese customers at 136 outlets across it three properties –GalaxyMacau, Broadway and StarWorld. No doubt more hotels will follow. Either way, it’s fair to say that Macau has big plans for the future!