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Ministry of Environment Honored with Smart 20 Award, Recognizing Innovation and Applications of Air Quality Sensing Technology

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The Ministry of Environment (MOENV) has long been promoting Internet of Things (IoT) for environmental sensing. In the realm of air quality, this includes the deployment of approximately 10,000 air quality sensors nationwide as well as innovating and developing mobile air quality sensing devices and systems. This year, the MOENV participated in the 2024 Smart 20 Awards organized by Smart Cities Connect in the United States. Under the theme "Advanced Air Quality Monitoring: Innovations and Applications of Mobile Air Quality Sensors", it competed with over 700 smart city projects worldwide. The MOENV was honored to be recognized with the Smart 20 Award, which not only acknowledges its innovative applications and smart governance achievements in air quality monitoring, but also showcases Taiwan's leading position in promoting smart cities.

The Ministry of Environment indicated that since 2017, it has actively implemented advanced technologies such as sensors, IoT, and AI big data analysis. It has collaborated with 18 local governments to deploy approximately 10,000 air quality sensors, establishing an air quality sensing IoT network that provides high temporal and spatial resolution and more real-time air quality information. This assists local governments in pollution monitoring and enables more cross-domain applications to provide smart environmental governance. To further enhance the scope and mobility of air quality sensing, since 2020, the Ministry of Environment has collaborated with the Industrial Technology Research Institute's Green Energy and Environment Research Laboratories to develop mobile air quality sensing devices and systems. Through continuous optimization of mechanical design and dynamic calibration technology, and testing and verification in multiple scenarios, this collaboration has improved the accuracy of sensing data, effectively expanding the scope of applications.

More specifically, this award-winning project demonstrates how mobile air quality sensors can identify potential sources of pollution and locate spots for on-site inspections. In so doing, the sensors provide strong technical support for improving air quality in the evolving landscape of smart environmental governance, assisting in applications such as traffic management, monitoring the spread of pollutants from sudden pollution incidents, and managing air quality maintenance zones. Mobile sensors have been deployed for data collection for environmental governance applications in various locations, including Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Nantou County, Chiayi County and Hsinchu City.

The Ministry of Environment stated that Smart Cities Connect has been holding the Smart 50 Awards annually since 2017, recognizing the global top 50 innovative and impactful smart city applications. Both private sector and government entities can participate. This year (2024) marked the first refinement to the Smart 20 Awards, in which only the top 20 smart city application projects were selected. This award acknowledges the MOENV’s innovative applications and smart governance achievements in air quality monitoring.

The Ministry of Environment is the first central government unit in Taiwan to receive this honor and has been invited to attend an awards ceremony in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, on May 7th (May 8th Taiwan time). Deputy Director Ming-Hui Hu of the Department of Monitoring and Information will accept the award on behalf of the MOENV and engage in exchanges with smart city experts and leaders from around the world to promote Taiwan's experience and achievements in smart city development.

Deputy Director-General Hu of the Monitoring and Information Department of the Ministry of Environment took a group photo with Ms. Chelsea Collier, Editor-at-Large & Managing Partner of the organizer, after receiving the award.

2024 Smart 20 Awards

2024 Smart 20 Awards

Image 1. Screenshot of mobile air quality sensors display platform.

Image 1. Screenshot of mobile air quality sensors display platform.

Image 2. Dynamic calibration schematic diagram of mobile air quality sensors

Image 2. Dynamic calibration schematic diagram of mobile air quality sensors

Image 3. Mobile air quality sensors are used to monitor and assess pollution impact areas during fires.

Image 3. Mobile air quality sensors are used to monitor and assess pollution impact areas during fires.

Source: 
Ministry of Environment
Updated: 
2024-07-10
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