Japan's SoftBank Corp. has partnered with major Indonesian developer PT Lippo Karawaci Tbk to use artificial intelligence and other leading-edge technologies in the local real estate and transport sectors, starting with the development of a smart city.

Under an alliance deal sealed Thursday in Jakarta, the duo will focus initially on Lippo Village under development by Lippo in Karawaci, Banten Province, 23 kilometers west of the capital, according to their joint statement.

They will introduce state-of-the-art security and traffic control systems in the village, including one for facial recognition to identify strangers entering there and another for counting the number of vehicles and identifying their type to help smooth traffic flow.

The statement said the partners will also cooperate in building a big data-analyzing system using AI technology for Lippo's shopping malls and hospitals to provide discount services to customers and smart healthcare to patients.

"We aim to develop Lippo Village as a model smart city in Southeast Asia," said Hidebumi Kitahara, SoftBank's vice president and head of global business strategy. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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