Taiwan is moving to give cities greater control over their own AI infrastructure as the Smart City Summit & Expo and the Net Zero City Exhibition 2026 event open on March 17 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
Led by ASUSTeK Computer Inc. and Foxconn alongside more than 20 industry partners, the event will debut the world’s first AI City Pavilion, combining AI computing infrastructure, operating platforms, and smart city applications for visiting city leaders and system integrators, marking another step forward in the evolution of global smart city development.
This year’s exhibition focuses on Digital and Green Transformation, bringing together seven government ministries and 13 county and city governments to demonstrate how policy and technology can work together to drive sustainable urban development and be scaled to global markets.
According to Samson Hu, who also serves as chairman of the Taiwan Smart City Solutions Alliance, Taiwan plans to continue uniting government, industry, and academia to refine AI City technologies and expand them internationally, while strengthening the country’s role as a hub for urban AI innovation.
At the center of the event is the AI City Pavilion developed by ASUS, Foxconn, and the Taiwan Smart City Solutions Alliance, which presents what organizers describe as the world’s first full-scale city sovereign AI system. The pavilion features nearly 60 solutions across a 5-layer architecture covering computing infrastructure, AI models, platforms, applications, and innovation frameworks. Demonstrations span four urban use cases – transportation, healthcare, security, and city governance – supported by real-world examples from the cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung.
Hu emphasized that the initiative forms a national AI City team capable of delivering high-performance yet cost-effective urban intelligence. The pavilion integrates an “AI City-as-a-service” model including AI servers and supercomputers, bringing together hardware, software, and operational expertise to deliver a Smart City 4.0 platform.
Participating organizations demonstrating solutions include AMD, Qualcomm, ASUS, Foxconn, Innodisk, Askey, Ennoconn, Sharp Corporation, Trend Micro, and Gogolook, alongside academic contributors such as National Tsing Hua University, collectively highlighting Taiwan’s full-stack AI capabilities for global deployment.
Beyond AI infrastructure, the event also introduces an AI Robotics Zone developed in collaboration with the Smart Robotics Application SIG and the government of Tainan. The zone demonstrates robotics solutions designed for urban environments, covering healthcare services, food and hospitality operations, logistics and warehousing, as well as inspection and disaster response using service robots, autonomous mobile robots, and firefighting robots.
Urban energy resilience is another major focus, with the exhibition presenting technologies aimed at addressing climate risks and accelerating energy transitions. Companies such as Delta Electronics, Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile, Far EasTone Telecommunications, and Acer will showcase solutions including AI-powered distributed energy management, virtual power plants, digital twins, and UAV-based disaster monitoring systems.
The 2026 expo will also feature more than 250 startups through a collaboration with the National Innovation & Entrepreneurship Association, linking emerging companies with industry alliances in semiconductor applications, smart mobility, digital city infrastructure, and healthcare innovation. The initiative aims to connect startups, enterprises, municipal leaders, and investors in a scalable model designed to accelerate global smart city innovation.
With participation from seven government ministries, 13 city and county governments, and leading academic institutions such as National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Taipei University of Technology, National Sun Yat-sen University, National Taiwan Ocean University, National Tsing Hua University, and Feng Chia University, the event is expected to host delegations from 53 countries and 174 cities alongside more than 3,000 overseas business leaders.
A new initiative called CITY VISION IN ACTION will also debut at this year’s expo, bringing city representatives, technology providers, and industry partners together in co-creation workshops designed to address real-world urban challenges and accelerate the deployment of smart city solutions.
Rather than focusing solely on individual technologies, the 2026 Smart City Summit & Expo highlights a broader shift in how cities approach digital transformation – evolving from users of technology into owners of AI infrastructure and integrated urban systems.
