Trimble’s mobile mapping helps drive Vietnam’s smart city strategy
In 2018, Vietnam’s Prime Minister issued a governmental policy to implement the Sustainable Smart City Development Project, encouraging provinces and cities to transform themselves into smart cities by 2030. Today, there are more than 40 cities, large and small, that have smart cities initiatives and programs in progress.
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), which has a population of more than 10 million people, was one of the first to commit to transforming itself into a smart city by 2025. Under the initiative, a database of all sectors, ranging from housing, transport and environment to healthcare, will share data with all of the city’s administrative departments, enabling them to create smart services that will make HCMC a livable, sustainable, and innovative city. The citywide, comprehensive database also serves as the foundation for meeting HCMC’s ultimate smart goal of building a “Digital Twin,” an entire 3D model of the city’s infrastructure.
Creating such a database requires carefully and accurately surveying the city—a task that was assigned to Portcoast Consultant Corporation, one of Vietnam’s leading port and coastal surveying companies. Although Portcoast had a clear plan for capturing infrastructure detail along roads and highways, some structures, such as the massive Gemalink Port in southern Vietnam are inaccessible by land.
As one of only 19 major ports capable of receiving the world’s largest container ships, Gemalink Port on the Cai Mep-Thi Vai River is an important trans-shipment center for global trade. Operational in May 2021, its strategic location provides the country an economic boost while cutting costs and reducing the time it takes exports to reach the United States and Europe.
