The AI deal stipulates smart transportation and smart surveillance initiatives
Chinese internet giant Baidu has signed an agreement with the government of Shanxi province to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into city management, Chinese press reported.
Under the terms of the agreement, Baidu will cooperate with Shanki to develop an intelligent system which will help the provincial government to gain a more comprehensive understanding of urban management and make better decisions.
The new system will also allow the development of smart transportation, surveillance networks, logistics, manufacturing, and apply big data to the processing of coal, a key economic resources in the province, according to the report.
In order to execute this latter initiative, Baidu will partner with local coal companies Yangquan Coal Industry and Supcon Group to explore the application of big data in coal mining and chemical processing. Additional projects with Beijing Railway Bureau and Tianjin Port Authority will make the shipment of coal to other provinces across the country more efficient.
The cooperation agreement also stipulates that Baidu and Shanxi will establish a manufacturing facility to develop AI hardware and solutions, logistics and distribution centers.
Baidu has already signed cooperation agreements with the governments of Chongzhou, Wuxi and Ningbo to develop smart transportation, smart medical care and smart education projects.
North America ends 2016 with more than 30 million smart homes
In other IoT news, the number smart homes in Europe and North America reached 30.3 million in 2016, according to a new research report from Swedish firm Berg Insight.
The report highlighted that North America had an installed base of 21.8 million smart homes at the end of the year, a 47% year-on-year growth. The strong market growth is expected to last for years to come, driving the number of smart homes in North America to 73 million by 2021, which will represent 55% of all households.
At the end of 2016, there were 8.5 million smart homes in Europe and the market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 57% in the next five years to reach 80.6 million smart homes by 2021, which corresponds to 36% of all European households.
