Bucheon City and Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute Sign Joint Research Agreement on Fine Dust

Bucheon City and Taiwan ITRI are signing a "Memorandum of Understanding for Joint Research on Fine Dust" through a video conference.
[Photo by Bucheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 13th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Taiwan's national research institute, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), for a 'Joint Big Data Research on Fine Dust in Bucheon City.'

The signing ceremony was held via video conference. From Bucheon City, Mayor Jang Deokcheon, Kim Jusam, Chair of the Bucheon City Council Urban Transportation Committee, and Park Deoksin, Chairman of the Korean Aerosol Society and official advisor on fine dust for Bucheon City, attended. From Taiwan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Environment Chai Hongde, ITRI Director Wang Renchen, and Chen Yingyu, Head of the Environmental IoT Center, participated.

Through this agreement, the two institutions will mutually cooperate on ▲development of an air quality monitoring system for fine dust and volatile organic compounds (VOC) ▲development of AI and big data-based analysis technologies ▲joint projects and technical cooperation ▲joint hosting of seminars and symposiums.

In particular, Taiwan's fine dust monitoring technology is expected to open a new horizon in the field of fine dust as it can monitor sources of emissions through data analysis, not just simple concentration measurement.

Mayor Jang Deokcheon of Bucheon City said, "I am very pleased to cooperate with Taiwan, a clean country with no local COVID-19 cases for the past eight weeks, in the field of fine dust," adding, "Based on excellent technology, we will create a fine dust clean zone and expect both institutions to grow further."

Deputy Minister Chai Hongde of Taiwan's Ministry of Environment said, "Taiwan already operates over 6,500 measuring devices nationwide for air quality management including fine dust, accumulating hardware and environmental algorithm technologies," and added, "We actively support and will cooperate with Bucheon City, which is leading the fine dust big data field in Korea."

Meanwhile, Bucheon City was selected in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's smart city themed specialized complex project competition and plans to invite Taiwanese officials to share opinions ahead of the completion of the 'Smart Fine Dust Clean Specialized Complex' scheduled for November this year.