The country’s first international smart city exhibition featured five technologies under the Digital and Frontier Technologies for Health Program of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) on 23 – 25 March 2023 at Isabela Convention Center (ICON), Cauayan City, Isabela.

Following the success of the inauguration of the first Smart City and SDG Day on 25 March 2022, Cauayan City, the first smart and sustainable community in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) conducted the International Smart City Exposition and Networking Engagement 2023 (iSCENE 2023) with the theme “Building Smarter and Sustainable Cities and Communities in the Philippines.”

The PCHRD hosted a Session on Digital & Frontier Technologies for Health which focused on healthcare innovations utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and new fields of information and communication technologies in digital health, in conjunction with an exhibit of its latest technologies under the program featuring five of its supported projects: 

• eHealth TABLET for Informed Decision-Making of Local Government Units (eHATID) 
• Power App (Mobile Biomedical Device Unit to Enhance Access to Upper and Lower Extremity Devices)
• Center for Applied Modelling, Data Analytics and Bioinformatics for Decision Support Systems in Health (AMDABiDSS-Health) – Project iWAS 
• Rabies data analytics dashboard integrating predictive models and genome informatics to support the rabies control program in Davao City (RabDash DC)
• IoT-Based OL Trap and Community Dengue Early Warning System (C-DEWS)

The expo aimed to serve as a platform to bring local chief executives, government leaders, industries, and business players together for knowledge-sharing, connection and network-building for the promotion and implementation of innovative solutions that would be instrumental for the creation of smarter and sustainable communities in the country.

The City of Cauayan was established as the First Smart City of the Philippines on 25 March 2015 by DOST Region 2. A “smart city” is defined as a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital solutions for the benefit of its citizens and business. The goal of a smart city is to optimize city functions and promote economic growth while also improving the quality of life for citizens by using smart technologies and data analysis. 

Among the highlights of the program include Smarter Technologies Exhibition, Business Matching, Leaders’ Forum, Speakers’ Session, and Mayors’ Night. During the event, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the DOST; Department of the Interior and Local Government; Department of Information, Communications and Technology; and Development Academy of the Philippines for the development of smart and sustainable communities.