New Taipei City has once again reached a new international milestone in smart city innovation. At the 12th IEEE International Smart Cities Conference, held in Porto, Portugal, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest and one of the most authoritative and trusted professional organizations in electrical and electronic engineering, officially presented the highly regarded 2026 IEEE Smart Cities Contest Awards. On October 29, Chen Fu-Tien, Director of the Information Management Center of the New Taipei City Government, represented the City Government at the awards ceremony in Portugal. New Taipei City’s project, “New Taipei Smart Poles: Building a New Paradigm for Future Cities,” stood out among leading cities from around the world and won Second Place Globally in the Developed Economy Legacy City category. By integrating smart poles into urban governance, the project enhances public safety, traffic management, environmental monitoring, economic development, and other aspects of city operations. The award not only recognizes New Taipei City’s success in transforming ordinary streetlights into the core development of a smart city, but also once again demonstrates Taiwan’s international leadership in smart governance and sustainable technology.

 

IEEE is the world’s largest professional technical organization and one of the most widely recognized authorities in the field of electrical and electronic engineering. Its technical standards and research are widely adopted by governments, industries, and academia around the world. Given IEEE’s global influence and professional standing, its Smart Cities Contest is often regarded as the “Oscars” of the smart city field. Established in 2021, the competition began its formal selection process in 2022. It focuses on how cities leverage advanced technologies, data, and governance frameworks to improve administrative efficiency, urban resilience, and sustainable innovation, making it an important benchmark for observing global smart city development. Cities from around the world compete under their official city names, with an international panel of experts evaluating projects based on three key criteria: technological innovation, governance impact, and scalability. Winning the award represents strong recognition from the international professional community of a city’s achievements in smart governance. Competition in the Developed Economy Legacy City category was particularly intense this year. New Taipei City’s Smart Pole Project attracted the attention of the international judging panel because it uses smart poles as an integrated urban infrastructure platform, combining 5G, IoT, AI, and big data. Through a one-pole, multiple-function approach, telecommunications and networking equipment, as well as site-specific modules, can be integrated onto a single pole to support a wide range of urban services. The project demonstrates the comprehensive potential of smart infrastructure to advance data-driven and integrated urban governance.

 

Director of the Information Management Center of the New Taipei City Government, Chen Fu-Tien, said that the award represents significant international recognition of New Taipei City’s smart city development. As Taiwan’s most populous special municipality, New Taipei City is home to more than four million residents and has approximately 256,000 streetlights, accounting for around one-tenth of the total number of streetlights in Taiwan. Traditionally, streetlights served primarily as sources of nighttime illumination while accounting for a significant share of public infrastructure energy consumption. At the same time, the repeated excavation of roads for the installation and maintenance of different utility networks has long been a major urban challenge for residents. Chen pointed out that to address these challenges, the City Government has adopted a forward-looking approach and developed the New Taipei City Smart Pole Deployment White Paper and the New Taipei City Smart Pole Installation Specifications. Using smart poles as a core infrastructure platform, the City has successfully integrated 5G small cells, AI-powered video analytics, IoT sensors, and renewable energy storage systems. Through a tripartite strategy of upstream institutional intervention (co-management and pre-embedding), site-specific differentiation, and public-private collaboration, streetlights have been reshaped into the aorta of urban data transmission and public safety. This has not only substantially boosted municipal operational efficiency but also genuinely enhanced the quality of life for citizens.

 

The project presents a comprehensive approach spanning strategic vision, technical architecture, cross-departmental governance, alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), benefits to residents, and plans for future expansion. It demonstrates New Taipei City’s achievements in smart infrastructure, smart government, smart governance, and sustainable environmental development, while providing cities around the world with a practical and replicable “New Taipei experience.” The Smart Pole Project has received numerous awards and international recognition over the years, including the 2023 WITSA Global Innovation and Tech Excellence Awards for First Prize, Smart City Award; the 2023 IDC Future Enterprise Awards for Best Connected City and Future of Trust Award, Taiwan and Asia-Pacific; the 2024 Smart City Innovation Application Awards for Smart Government Award; the 2025 Smart 20 Awards for Top 20 Smart Cities; and the 2025 Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards for SDG 9 Gold Award. With this latest recognition from the IEEE Smart Cities Contest Awards, New Taipei City’s achievements in smart governance have once again demonstrated their international competitiveness and growing global leadership. Looking ahead, New Taipei City will continue to deepen and expand the applications of smart poles, respond proactively to global trends in smart and sustainable urban development, and advance toward becoming a resilient, sustainable, safe, and livable international smart city. Through continued innovation and international collaboration, New Taipei City will also further enhance Taiwan’s visibility and presence on the global smart city stage.