Abstract
The concept of smart city has drawn significant attention from government, industry and academia. But in the end many people do not know exactly what does “smart” mean or if “smart” can be quantified or how “smart” can be realized? Big data is a hot topic but it is still full of “mysteries”. Few of us realize its multiple applications to various domains of human endeavor. I argue that Big Data is the core of “smart” city. Realization of smart city requires the tight coupling of ideas, data and technology, from which we can harvest deep insight and great value from Big Data. By using many real examples from my research team, I will give a glimpse of the great promise of Big Data toward smart cities. Finally, I will suggest what our government should do to harness the super-abundant opportunities in the Big Data era.

Biography
Lionel M. Ni is Chair Professor and Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at the University of Macau (UM). Before joining UM in January 2015, he served as Dean of Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, Chair Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, and Special Assistant to the President at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His past career includes being Chief Scientist of China’s National Basic Research Program (973 Program) on wireless sensor networks, co-founder and CEO of CC&T Technologies, Inc., Michigan, and program director at the US National Science Foundation. The winner of eight best paper awards, with research papers cited over 24,000 times, his multiple achievements include ownership of 20 US/China patents. A fellow of IEEE and Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, he won the Overseas Outstanding Contribution Award from China Computer Foundation in 2009, First Class Award in Natural Sciences for Research Excellence by China’s Ministry of Education in 2010, followed by a Second Class Award in Natural Sciences for Research Excellence from the State Council in 2011.

Abstract
Persuasive technology is about how to use digital technology to engage humans into active (or non-active) participation of desirable (or undesirable) physical and mental activities. In this talk, I will share research experiences and challenges from a spectrum of persuasive technology projects at the NTU UbiComp Lab over the past 10 years. These projects range from tooth-brushing of kindergarten kids to drug addiction of after-rehab patients.

Biography
Hao-Hua (Hao) Chu (http://mll.csie.ntu.edu.tw/hchu.php) is a professor at National Taiwan University's Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering and Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia. He received his B.S. in computer science from Cornell and his Ph.D. in computer science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining NTU, he worked at NTT DoCoMo USA Labs, Intel Corporation, and Xerox labs. His research areas are in ubiquitous computing, sensor/wireless networks, and persuasive technologies.