BCDA and Japan’s NEDO ink pact for smart mobility project
THE Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the New Energy Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan has inked an agreement for a three-year demonstration project on smart mobility solutions to be implemented in New Clark City (NCC).
BCDA and NEDO signed on Friday a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the project.
According to BCDA, the signing between BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Aileen R. Zosa and NEDO Executive Director Dr. Shuji Yumitori was witnessed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., along with other top government officials.
The occasion was part of the President’s business missions during his five-day official visit to Japan, BCDA said.
“The demonstration project will be executed by a group nominated by NEDO, led by Zenmov Inc., a Japan-based information technology [IT] solutions provider specializing in the transportation sector, to measure and verify the ‘effectiveness’ of a transport service system that operates via a cloud-based technology platform,” BCDA said.
The BCDA added that the demonstration project would come at no cost for the Philippine government, adding that NEDO and Zenmov are committing to finance the project.
For her part, Zosa said the partnership would help advance the transportation and connectivity in the Central Luzon region.
“In keeping with our goal for the NCC to become a green, sustainable and inclusive city, we have partnered with Japan’s NEDO and Zenmov to help BCDA in developing advanced and innovative solutions to improve transportation services and connectivity in this region,” the BCDA president said.
“We can definitely learn a lot from this sharing of technologies and expertise that our Japanese partners have relating to the advancement of their transportation sector,” Zosa added.
The BCDA president added that through the study’s findings, the BCDA could also develop solutions to “better optimize” energy use, minimizes pollution and lower carbon footprint, and manages congestion and other traffic-related issues.
Further, BCDA said under the demonstration project, a new public transportation system called “Primary Rapid Transit [PRT],” an energy-efficient and convenient “last mile” service will run using the Smart Mobility Operation Cloud (SMOC).
The SMOC, Zenmov’s cloudbased fleet management system, maximizes operational availability, while keeping the number of vehicles at a minimum by managing a “lean dispatching” system based on travel demand data, BCDA said.
The BCDA also noted that this would be complemented by more “energy-efficient, low-carbon, and innovative” vehicles such as electric vehicles, and electric bikes, as well as smart poles and drones for real time data collection and dissemination, to complete the system.
All of these project components, BCDA said, are covered by the demonstration project initiated by NEDO.
A government organization under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan, NEDO is a national research and development agency that creates innovation by promoting technological development necessary for realization of a sustainable society.