Jakarta, 7 June 2022: Mr Koji Hachiyama, chief operating officer of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), met with Prof Dr Ir Suhono Harso Supangkat, head of the Smart City and Community Innovation Center (SCCIC), Institut Teknologi Bandung, and the lead co-chair of Think20 (T20) Task Force2 (TF2) on Meaningful Digital Connectivity, Cyber Security, Empowerment, to discuss a proposal from SCCIC for ERIA’s participation in a side event of T20 TF2. The topic is G20 Smart World Living Lab (G2SWL) Recover Together, Recover Stronger: Improving Quality of Life. G2SWL is a proposed living laboratory to solve problems in small areas (cities, districts, villages, campuses, roads, etc.) and real-life conditions.

With the rise and implementation of digital transformation that is making a huge change in society, urban development is forced to adopt smart city as an approach to solve problems through innovative ways of increasing people’s quality of life.

The main objectives of this activity are 1) improve the quality of life; 2) solve problems or maximise the potential of provinces, cities, and rural areas on a small scale; 3) continuously evaluate real problems and actual conditions; 4) provide the prototype of technology, governance, and human resource development; 5) provide a sandbox for start-ups; 6) establish a knowledge centre to deliver problem-solving recommendations for G20 and other countries; and 7) make laboratory-based sharing into a learning hub.

G2SWL is inviting collaboration from the government, industries, academia, and citizens to establish a living lab that can solve problems based on their expertise, which include but are not limited to 1) establishment of office administrations and virtual labs as centres of research; 2) provision of governance and regulation research; 3) human capital (digital literacy development); 4) provision of smart solutions for economic, industry, and environment services; and 5) a sandbox for start-ups that can be managed in a living lab area.