Similar apps are being developed and deployed

[zakiyatasnim]

Digitalization of public services
Previously, Ma Zhongwen, a lecturer at a university in Guangzhou, found it difficult to withdraw money from his government savings account. To do so, he had to apply online, then go to the bank and wait in line for hours. Ma also had to take time off work because the bank only served customers during business hours.

Now, all of this can be done on a smartphone with Yue Sheng Shi, a software developed by the Guangdong government and built into China’s most popular app, WeChat. It offers 1,600 government services: users can pay fines, renew passports or visas, make appointments with government agencies, and even apply for business licenses. These services hungary number data are offered by 20 municipal governments in the Pearl River Delta region. According to the Guangdong government, Yue Sheng Shi had more than 100 million registered users as of January 2021.
across China as part of a new wave of digital infrastructure development that the government hopes will minimize paperwork and streamline the delivery of government services.

There is a downside to this approach: large tech companies like Tencent, the creator of WeChat, gain access to vast amounts of personal data. There is no doubt that transforming a popular app into a platform that provides a wide range of government services has made people’s lives more convenient. But it has also raised concerns about data collection, surveillance, and privacy.

Cities working together to protect the environment
In the spring, blue-green algae blooms under the water of Lake Taihu in eastern China. As the weather warms, the organisms grow rapidly, giving the lake a dirty look and an unpleasant smell. For more than a decade, the algae blooms have disrupted fishing and tourism on the lake's shores, and have threatened the water resources and health of tens of millions of people in the lower Yangtze River Delta. In 2007, the nearby city of Wuxi was left without drinking water for a week.

Previously, several cities have made separate attempts to solve this problem. But now, for the first time, some of them have joined forces. For example, Wuxi on the northern shore of the lake and Huzhou on the southern shore have started to exchange remote sensing data, and also use drones and automated boats to jointly monitor the state of the water surface. In these cities, the blooms occur at different times of the year: in Wuxi in the summer, and in Huzhou in the fall. So first, the team from Huzhou sends boats to their colleagues in Wuxi when the blooms begin there, and then Wuxi helps them.