Technicians monitor Hangzhou's traffic conditions through the City Brain system. [Photo/CFP]

The digital governance index of Hangzhou was the highest among all Chinese cities on the 2020 Report on Chinese Cities' Digital Governance recently released by the China Economic Information Service, the China Information Industry Association, and the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design.

The Hangzhou City Brain system is a smart city platform aiming to improve urban management through the use of big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, among other cutting-edge technologies. It is becoming a new infrastructure for improving the city governance capacity of Hangzhou.

The system connects data from all circles of society and departments in Hangzhou, providing more intelligent and convenient services for companies and residents.

It was first developed in an attempt to alleviate traffic congestion in the city, and it made Hangzhou the first Chinese city to develop the capability of accurately calculating the exact number of cars on the road.

The smart city system has greatly alleviated Hangzhou's traffic congestion, with its traffic jam ranking dropping from 2nd to 35th place among Chinese cities.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, Hangzhou developed both the health code system and Qinqing Online, both of which have become important parts of the City Brain system.