At Huawei we explore how AI and data-driven solutions are taking cities to a new level of digital transformation, with a focus on Huawei’s role in global smart city development.
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and cloud computing is transforming how cities operate and serve their citizens. Around the world, governments are embracing digitalisation to enhance urban management, optimise public services, and create more efficient, resilient, and liveable environments.
The use of these technologies in cities today demonstrates how the smart city concept has evolved beyond basic digital infrastructure to encompass integrated, AI-driven ecosystems that enhance governance, security, and sustainability. In today’s urban environments, data is a strategic asset, and AI-driven automation is enabling governments to optimise city operations, from real-time traffic management to proactive disaster response and seamless e-government services.
Solutions for today’s urban challenges
At the forefront of this digital transformation in cities is Huawei’s Government Public Services Digitalisation Business Unit, which is helping cities navigate the complexities of modern governance. Since its establishment in 2022, this unit has focused on building digital city infrastructure, integrating cross-domain services, and driving seamless citizen experiences.
The unit offers two key solutions to enable digital city transformation in different ways. The first is its “One-Stop Public Services” solution, designed to support cities with e-government transformation; the second is the “Smart Cities” solution to enable broader digitalisation across cities. Through these, Huawei is delivering real-world innovations that enable governments to enhance service efficiency, improve citizen engagement, and accelerate urban digitalisation.
Data and AI sit at the heart of these solutions, enabling cities to make smarter decisions, improve their operational and cost efficiency, and deliver services that truly fulfil the needs of city inhabitants. This was on full display at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, where Huawei showcased its latest progress in global public service digitalisation through a series of demonstrations and announcements.
Global solutions at scale at MWC25
As cities worldwide strive to harness AI and data-driven insights, Huawei’s innovations demonstrate how technology can empower public sector leaders to create more agile, responsive, and citizen-centric urban environments around the world.
What started in 2022 with the establishment of its Government Public Services Digitalisation Business Unit has evolved to include new forms of city digitalisation and global public sector governance innovation.This evolution is perfectly encapsulated by Huawei’s City Intelligent Twins architecture, which has been adopted by more than 220 cities across China, as well as in cities in over 40 countries and regions in the world.
During MWC25, Huawei took this evolution another step further, showcasing its latest progress in public service digitalisation. This includes unveiling a global demonstration site in partnership with the Wuhan City Operation Centre, introducing an overseas storage centre solution to strengthen data security and industrialisation, and launching a smart public services solution powered by open-source AI models. The company also formalised its collaboration with the Sarawak Government of Malaysia, reinforcing its commitment to advancing digital governance on a global scale.
Wuhan City Operation and Management Platform
In collaboration with Wuhan City Operation & Management Centre and its partners, Huawei launched a global demonstration site for comprehensive digital transformation in Wuhan. The initiative aims to explore experiences in city governance, promote global sharing of technological standards and governance practices, and contribute to sustainable urban development. The platform integrates various systems and connects different departments, achieving visualised management, real-time processing, and intelligent decision-making capabilities. This effort is driven by advanced technologies such as digital twin, AI, big data, connectivity, and storage.
Huawei Government Public Services Digitalisation BU chief marketing officer, Jiang Hulin, remarked that the Wuhan City Operation and Management Platform utilises Huawei’s digital twin technology to enable real-time mapping of massive urban components and events while unlocking the potential value of data. The platform combines satellite remote sensing, precise modelling, and BIM technology, covering various city incidents with over 900 real-time indicators. AI algorithms integrated with industry scenarios drive innovation in dynamic simulation, intelligent risk identification, and multi-source data integration. These effectively address challenges in urban management and governance and have played an important role in city operations and major event support.
Overseas Storage Centre Solution
Further demonstrating its international credentials at MWC25, Huawei, along with Shanghai Macrowing Software Technology Co Ltd and Beijing Digital Hail Information Technology Co Ltd, unveiled the Overseas Storage Centre Solution.
The Overseas Storage Centre Solution is designed to support urban digital transformation and foster business innovation. Huawei and Macrowing have already launched storage centre projects in various Chinese cities, playing a crucial role in supporting local data markets and boosting urban economic growth. The solution enhances data security and efficiency, ensuring secure data flow throughout its lifecycle. Huawei plans to deepen cooperation with more domestic and international partners to explore new paths for unleashing the value of data and contributing to the global digital economy’s development.
This new solution leverages advanced ICT to manage the entire data lifecycle, including collection, backup, storage, computing, utilisation, and production. The aim is to unlock the value of data and drive the growth of the digital economy. The solution features three key utilities: a data hosting centre, a data governance centre, and a data circulation centre. These work together to centralise data aggregation, improve data quality and value, and facilitate secure and efficient data circulation.
Open-source AI-based Smart Public Services Solution
In collaboration with Linewell Software Group and iFLYTEK Co Ltd, Huawei also launched the Smart Public Services Solution based on an open-source AI model. This new solution aims to enhance the public service experience by leveraging AI and scenario-based services, transitioning from “easy handling” to “intelligent handling”.The solution integrates digital twins, AI models, and cloud-edge-device synergy to create a one-stop system for both online and offline services, making government services more efficient and people-oriented. The initiative is designed to help government institutions achieve smart upgrades, enabling “data running more and citizens running less”.
During the launch, Huawei and its partners highlighted the significant opportunities that AI-driven government services provide. For instance, in a district of Beijing, a smart service hall reduced service handling time from two to three days to one day, achieving a 92.77 per cent satisfaction rate. Similarly, in Fujian province, the enterprise registration process now takes only one day instead of five.
Huawei’s Public Services Solution has already been deployed in over 50 countries, facilitating the digital and intelligent upgrade of public services in more than 300 cities. The company plans to continue working with ecosystem partners to drive the convergence of AI and government services, promoting continuous innovation and the evolution from efficient governance to optimal experience.
What the future holds
As urbanisation accelerates, the role of AI, cloud computing, and IoT in city governance will only grow more significant. Governments worldwide are recognising that digital transformation is not just a technological upgrade but a necessity for improving service efficiency, sustainability, and resilience. The future of smart cities will be defined by intelligent automation, data-driven policymaking, and cross-sector collaboration, enabling governments to anticipate and respond to urban challenges with greater precision.
Ice Wang, president of MKT & Solution Sales Department, Huawei Government Public Services Digitalisation BU, stated: “Huawei is well-positioned to lead this next phase of smart city evolution. By continuously enhancing its AI-powered governance solutions, cloud-based public service platforms, and integrated city management frameworks, Huawei is equipping local governments with the tools they need to proactively manage urban growth, enhance citizen services, and foster economic development.”
The evidence of this came during a successful roundtable hosted at MWC25, with Huawei bringing together partners and customers from around the world, including the Middle East, APAC, Africa, and China, for far-reaching conversations on data and AI-driven public services and smart cities. During this discussion, Professor Jugdutt Singh, senior advisor to the Sarawak Government in Malaysia, shared the development path of “Digital Sarawak”. He explained that the government embraces openness in its approach to proactively drive digital transformation. In collaboration with Huawei, Sarawak has formulated a smart city framework covering various fields, including the smart economy, smart environment, and government management.
Huawei’s contributions at MWC25 underscore its commitment to driving the evolution of smart cities, with innovations that empower cities to enhance service delivery, improve infrastructure management, and boost public satisfaction. As the global demand for intelligent urban management continues to rise, Huawei’s leadership in AI-driven public services and smart city infrastructure ensures that cities will be well-equipped to meet the challenges of the digital age – creating a future where technology and governance work seamlessly together to improve urban life for all.
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Quelle/Source: Smart Cities World, 27.05.2025
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