MAYOR STRIVES TO TRANSFORM BANDUNG INTO TECHNOPOLIS

London, June 29 (Antara)- Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil harbors an ambitious dream to transform his city into a technopolis, which is a society with a concentration of technology-based businesses, or an emphasis on technology. In the initial stage, he plans to develop a technopolis area near Jatinangor, an educational hub located between the border of Bandung and Sumedang District, both in West Java Province. In this regard, he paid a working visit to England on June 22-28, 2015, to gather information on new innovations and ideas concerning city management in the European country. Riwdan Kamil held a meeting with some British businessmen engaged in the creative industry at Wayra company office in London, Indonesian diplomat at the Indonesian embassy in London Hastin A.B. Dumanid informed Antara on Sunday. Kamil, considered by many as one of the most successful mayors in Indonesia, informed the British businessmen of his intentions to develop Bandung not only to become a smart city but also a liveable and loveable city. He listened raptly to the presentations given by the representatives of six companies involved in the creative industry: Apple, BridgeU, What3words, Voyage Control, WeFarm, and Proversity. One of the speakers, Alan Greenberg, the former head of Apple education in Europe, and later in Asia, affirmed that in order to develop a smart city, one needs to focus on increasing the use of information technology and discipline to maximize opportunities and to minimize risks. On the occasion, Proversity offered to develop online universities. The Bandung mayor stated that infrastructure development still poses a challenge to this city, which is currently promoting the use of solar energy.