During our visit to the Smart City Summit & Expo 2026, there were quite a number of booths worth checking out. The event itself is massive, covering everything from infrastructure to policy-level initiatives, but a few booths stood out to us for how they present AI and smart city technologies in a more practical and digestible way.
One of the main highlights is the AI City Pavilion, led by ASUS and Foxconn together with ecosystem partners like AMD, Qualcomm, Innodisk, and Trend Micro. This is easily one of the more comprehensive showcases at the event. Instead of fragmented demos, everything is presented as a full-stack solution, covering AI infrastructure, platforms, and actual city-level applications. It gives a much clearer idea of how AI can be deployed at scale, rather than just being a concept.
The idea of “City Sovereign AI” is also heavily emphasized here. It basically comes down to cities having more control over their own AI systems, from data handling to deployment. With companies like ASUS Cloud and Foxconn contributing infrastructure and platform-level solutions, you can see how the ecosystem is being built to support that vision.
Moving on, the AI Robotics Zone is another area that caught our attention. This section features companies such as ASUS, TECO Electric & Machinery, NEXCOM, and ITRI, showcasing a range of robotics solutions.
These include service robots, autonomous mobile robots, and systems designed for inspection and disaster response. What makes this section interesting is that many of these are already being deployed or tested in real environments, especially in sectors like healthcare, logistics, and public safety.
On the sustainability and infrastructure side, booths from Delta Electronics, Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile, and Far EasTone focus on energy management and connectivity. You will find solutions like AI-driven monitoring systems, virtual power plants, and digital twin technologies aimed at improving efficiency and resilience. These may not be the flashiest displays, but they are some of the more practical implementations that will matter in the long run.
There are also contributions from companies like Acer ITS and MiTAC Information Technology, which focus on smart transportation, infrastructure systems, and integrated city platforms. These booths give a better sense of how different technologies come together to support daily city operations.
On the smaller side, the startup booths are worth checking out as well. With over 250 startups participating, there are quite a few interesting ideas in areas like smart mobility, healthcare tech, and digital services. While these are not as large-scale as the main pavilions, some of them show promising concepts that could scale with the right backing.
Overall, the booths we explored reflect a broader shift in the smart city space. It is no longer just about showcasing individual technologies, but about how everything connects and works together in a real-world environment. AI and sustainability are clearly the main focus this year, and both are now being treated as part of the same long-term direction rather than separate conversations.
