Communications

City of the future embraces Microsoft

12 May 2008

The Songdo International Business District (IBD) is currently under construction in Incheon 40 miles southwest of Seoul, South Korea. Songdo will be the first city in the world designed and planned as an international business district.

Microsoft has signed a memorandum of understanding with Gale International, the developer for the US$35 billion project, to collaborate to deliver technology and infrastructure and create a cutting-edge, digitally connected and environmentally sustainable city.

“Designing an entirely new city from the ground up provides a unique opportunity to create an ideal technological infrastructure in which access to digital capabilities and experiences is an inherent part of the living and working environment across people’s lives,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, in a keynote address at the Government Leaders Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia. “Microsoft is pleased to join with Gale International, which is working closely with the governments of Korea and Incheon, and the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority to help turn this exciting vision into reality.”

Plans for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified city include a common interface for connecting to government services via Windows Mobile and the Microsoft Citizen Service Platform, as well as high-tech information kiosks that use the upcoming Microsoft Surface platform combined with Virtual Earth to provide immersive, feature-rich information.

“I am very glad to have Microsoft as one of the major technology partners for the ubiquitous connectivity of Songdo IBD,” said Heon-Seok Lee, commissioner of the Free Economic Zone Authority. “I am confident that Microsoft’s technologies will make Songdo IBD a cutting-edge technology-enabled city, which will accelerate city development and investment promotion.”