The APEC international webinar on "sustainable development of cities and communities - research and promotion of good practice cases and guidelines for public health emergency response in smart city operating models" was held online by the Public Security Sub-institute of CNIS on August 29.

The webinar was hosted by Dr. Yang Feng and attended by more than 30 representatives from APEC economies including China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia, etc.

Welcome speeches were made by Bernard Gindroz, Chair of ISO/TC 268, Sustainable cities and communities, and Sun Wei, Director of Social Governance and Public Service Office, Standards Technical Management Department, State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). They highlighted the vital role that standards play in combat against the COVID-19 global pandemic, as standards summarize scientific technology and and practice.

The webinar is aimed at collecting and exchanging typical cases of smart city operating models, which will also contribute to two documents under development, ISO TR 37112 and ISO 37113. Experts from China, Indonesia and the U.K. made speeches on how standards facilitate local cities coping with public health emergencies. Attendees further discussed the scientificity, compatibility and operability of technical methods proposed by the two documents.

After the webinar, questionnaires were distributed to APEC economies to collect relevant cases. It is hoped that global cities will handle the pandemic with standards and accumulate experience, preparing for potential public health emergencies.