A ”Citizen-Driven” Smart City. The LINE SMART CITY DAY FUKUOKA 2019 Conference Report

 

Fukuoka-themed Brown and Cony figures greeted guests

At last, it's time to start!

For the conference opening, Director and COO of LINE Fukuoka, Mr. Yusuke Suzuki, took the stage. He introduced the initiatives between LINE Fukuoka and Fukuoka City, focusing on Fukuoka City's official LINE account, which has over 1.63 million registered users.

It was also here that he made the first new announcement of the day.

Mr. Suzuki announced that provision of the fully operational "Evacuation Action Support" (避難行動支援) feature within Fukuoka City's official LINE account had begun. The feature can now be used during actual disasters.

Operation of a test version of the "Evacuation Action Support" (避難行動支援) feature began this September, and user feedback was gathered through a questionnaire and trial sessions.

Improvements were made based on this feedback, and implementation of every feature is now complete. From today (November 14), the feature can be used in actual disasters.

Please see our press release about the start of fully operational "Evacuation Action Support" (避難行動支援)provision here.

Next, Mr. Damien Chin, project manager of the Taipei Smart City Project Management Office, appeared on stage.

 

This concept will use LINE official accounts to provide information about tourism to tourists and residents coming to Fukuoka City from Taipei City and vice versa, and aims to increase the value of their stay.

Following the announcement, LINE Fukuoka's Smart City Strategy Department head, Mr. Naoki Minakata, talked about the importance of co-creation between the government, private businesses, and city residents. He also gave examples of work that has been carried out together with private businesses up to now.

 

Guests from two private businesses representing Kyushu, Mr. Hidaka Kurokawa of Kyushu Railway Company and Mr. Masaki Abe of Nishi-Nippon Railroad, took the stage. Mr. Minakata acted as the moderator, and a panel discussion was held.

With its growing population, increasing inbound tourism, and cutting-edge initiatives, Fukuoka City is attracting attention. The panelists discussed the theme of "the future they want for Fukuoka," as well as their outlooks for the future.

After the panel discussion, President and CEO of Fukuoka Jisho Co., Ltd., Mr. Ichiro Enomoto, appeared on stage. In a talk show format with Mr. Suzuki, they discussed how verification testing for the "Smart Order" feature (which uses LINE and LINE Pay, and was rolled out at some restaurants in the Konoha Mall Hashimoto food court this August) was going, as well as their thoughts on support for entrepreneurs at Fukuoka Growth Next and more.

 

This session started with an announcement by Mr. Minakata about the launch of a new website that introduces promotional cases of Fukuoka City's transformation into a "Smart City" and summarizes the flow of how LINE official accounts are adopted by governments.


Based on inquiries we have received up to now, we adjusted our structure for local governments to be able to transition more smoothly into specific consultations.

After looking at the page, if you want to consult with us about something specific, you can do so through the inquiry form below.

The head of LINE's Public Policy Department, Mr. Nao Fukushima, also gave examples from throughout Japan of how local governments are making practical use of LINE official accounts.

As a representative of a local government that has adopted a LINE official account, Mr. Masaki Tashiro of Kumamoto City also spoke about the background of the account's integration, as well as giving concrete examples of how the city has used its account.


To wrap up the conference, Mr. Suzuki came to the stage once again. In his closing remarks, he said:

“Our concept of a 'Smart City' is a 'citizen-driven Smart City.' Rather than a big concept or technology, we think it's important to start from problems that city residents are having, like non-burnable trash day slipping their minds. I believe that there are some similar and different problems in your towns as well. We hope that with Fukuoka as a model case, 'citizen-driven Smart Cities' will expand in various regions. Together, let's drive Asia's 'Smart City' transformation."

 

Outside the venue, we had a demonstration corner for a variety of services using LINE, and participants (including local governments) got hands-on experience.

Fukuoka City official LINE account demonstration:
 "Infrastructure Report" （道路公園等通報機能) ,"Oversized Garbage Reservations" Account (粗大ごみ受付),"Evacuation Action Support" 避難行動支援機能）

i-Kasa Umbrella Sharing Service Demonstration

We also held individual consultations for representatives of local governments that were interested in initiatives utilizing LINE. We received a wide variety of consultations, with questions ranging from those about how to create a LINE official account, to holders of official LINE accounts who were unsure of how to leverage or resolve issues with them.

We hope that it was a chance for every participant to think about what a "Smart City" should look like.

Going forward, LINE Fukuoka will continue to promote "Smart City" transformation through co-creation projects with local governments, private businesses, and city residents.

For case studies of our Smart City-related efforts, please refer to this page:

Please use this form for inquiries about this post:

We're also recruiting new members to make "Smart Cities" starting from Fukuoka together with us!
If you're interested, please see the career information below! (Sorry, only available in Japanese)