The University of Macau (UM) State Key Lab of the Internet of Things for Smart City recently signed a collaboration agreement with the Center for Space Remote Sensing Demonstration under China National Space Administration (CNSA), becoming the first institute in Hong Kong and Macao to collaborate with a space remote sensing scientific demonstration unit. By signing the agreement, both parties hope to combine their strengths for collaborative innovation and to promote the commercialisation of scientific research results in the field of ground application systems in satellite remote sensing big data, which will be beneficial to the training of professionals and scientific research in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The agreement was signed by Xu Chengzhong, dean of UM’s Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), and Gu Xingfa, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Center for Space Remote Sensing Demonstration. Under the agreement, both parties will work together to advance the development of key technologies for satellite remote sensing ground application systems, improve the quality of remote sensing big data to support ground application systems, and conduct technological research studies on AI-based remote sensing big data processing, services, as well as development of software, in order to expand their influence in China and overseas.

UM’s State Key Lab of the Internet of Things for Smart City has a strong research team. Through research studies covering various areas, including modern information technology, communications technology, computational technology, big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, the lab aims to search for new solutions for issues that emerge with urban development. The lab also hopes to promote the development of basic scientific research and to achieve breakthroughs in the development of key technologies and interdisciplinary collaboration, in order to support smart city development in Macao, the GBA, and other parts of the country.

Relying on the strengths and resources of the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the centre mainly conducts research on space remote sensing policies, norms, and development trends in China and overseas. It also conducts scientific demonstration of satellite remote sensing observation systems, ground and aviation analogy tests of new space remote sensing observation systems, as well as the development of key technologies for satellite remote sensing applications. The centre also provides expert databases and knowledge databases to facilitate strategic decisions concerning China's space remote sensing development. It also provides technical means for remote sensing scientific demonstration, serves as a platform for idea exchange between departments in China and international countries, and carries out basic, far-sighted and strategic research projects, so as to provide the National Defense Science and Technology Bureau with scientific and technical support for management and decision-making in the field of civil aerospace.