City University of Hong Kong (CityU) today signed a Framework Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alstom, a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure. The MOU establishes a long-term strategic alliance for Advanced Open Systems for Smart Cities, covering areas in energy and transport research, education and training, and innovation.

The MOU was signed by Professor Way Kuo, President of CityU, and Dr Ronan Stéphan, Chief Innovation Officer at Alstom, during the ceremony at CityU. The agreement reflects CityU’s global vision and long-term strategy in partnering with international players in the industry.

Under the agreement, Alstom will provide funding and technology support for CityU to advance its research and development projects in the fields of energy and transport, as well as supporting students to develop entrepreneurships. In return, CityU will assist Alstom in recruiting talented personnel and identifying research results with commercialisation potential in the same fields through the establishment of a joint research centre.

Professor Kuo welcomed the strategic alliance. “The alliance will bring together like-minded individuals who will work together to stimulate highly creative projects aimed at developing eco-friendly initiatives and solutions, which will help to transform our urban environments into smart cities.”

Dr Stéphan explained, “In order to be at the forefront of the technology and to get the highest standards in terms of performance and sustainability for energy production and transmission, Alstom encourages open innovation strategies. As a global player Alstom has a major presence in all leading growth economies and is therefore aiming to be a dedicated contributor of eco-friendly power and transport solutions to support sustainable urbanisation in China where the group has a significant footprint. For these reasons, we decided to partner with CityU with some special emphasis in the field of Smart Grid, Power Electronics and Nanotechnologies.”

Headquartered in France, Alstom is a global leader in power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure with a major presence in all leading growth economies. Having 1,000 employees in 30 sites in China, Alstom aims to be a dedicated contributor of eco-friendly power and transport solutions to support sustainable urbanisation in China.

In its development strategy, Alstom invests in education, innovation and technology through developing intensive partnership with universities and stimulating entrepreneurship.

CityU’s strength in engineering makes it a perfect partner to Alstom to develop the Advanced Open Systems for Smart Cities. The University is the first ranked in China, 2nd in Asia and 25th in the world in the broad subject area of Engineering / Technology and Computer Sciences according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

140307-1_MOU_L.jpg The Advanced Open Systems for Smart Cities will establish a Community Energy Management System, saving energy consumption at all levels. The two parties will jointly apply for funding from Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Fund, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on the mainland, and other government-level agencies. The research results will constitute the corner stone of future smart cities, and will be implemented first at CityU, providing models for government organisations and commercial buildings in Hong Kong. 

Currently the Centre for Smart Energy Conversion and Utilization Research at CityU is conducting research on energy optimisation by modeling electricity usage in classrooms and lecture theatres, which accounts for 34% of CityU’s overall electricity usage. The project, closely related to the Advanced Open Systems for Smart Cities, is funded by Alstom and aims to provide a forecast model.