Global competition means it is essential to leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to seamlessly serve the needs of customers. This is as true for a multinational corporation as it is for new cities and free trade zones (FTZ).

For companies looking to start operations in a FTZ, technology can be a differentiating factor, given that there are about 5000 active zones to choose from worldwide. The same applies to the 340 new cities globally trying to fast track their development and attract new citizens, such as Neom in Saudi Arabia and Forest City in Malaysia. New cities, like FTZs, can combine technologies with favourable business regulations to draw in private investment.

However, new technologies are often hyped-up, promoted, financed and, ultimately, discarded when alternatives come onto the market. So how can FTZs and new cities know which technologies might succeed, or not? One recent development that might enable us to predict the future of smart technologies in FTZs and new cities is the smart airport.

The most significant example is self-check-in kiosks, which have now become ubiquitous in all large airports. The Hamad International Airportin Qatar has taken this technology to an extreme. Its self-check-in kiosks allow passengers to check their bags without human supervision. They feature biometric sensors for added security, and passengers who are biometrically scanned then enjoy simplified check-in procedures elsewhere in the airport.

Similar biometric systems will almost certainly be deployed in new cities and FTZs. The range of potential use cases is huge and includes paying parking meters, accessing gated communities, or checking into the subway. For FTZs, these automated biometric systems could improve security and allow seamless entry of employees and visitors to companies based in the zone. 

More from Thibault Serlet: 

• SEZs can use smelting and crypto mining to manage electricity
• It's time for the EU to reverse its SEZ ban
• What Tiananmen Square teaches us about SEZs in today's fractious world

Studying automated biometric systems in airports can give researchers insight into a variety of potential problems such as implementation problems, scaling issues and privacy concerns. Most importantly, it will ask the fundamental question: are these systems even necessary, or is doing things the established way good enough?

Application of technologies is part and parcel of developing free zones, including in basic areas such as utilities and waste management. Many airports with high passenger numbers have started adding smart sensors to their rubbish bins, for example, which communicate with staff, informing them when the bins need to be emptied. It’s a technology that could easily be deployed in other contexts. 

Technologies are being viewed as crucial to the success of free zones globally. The Clark Freeport Zone near Manila in the Philippines, which includes an international airport, is a case in point. Local authorities are partnering with South Korean companies to deploy smart city technology in the FTZ, while the adjacent New Clark City project plans to use technology to ensure services are “smarter, greener, friendlier and more people-centric” for citizens.

As governments pour tens of billions of dollars into new and smart city projects, they should look to airports to find these real and tangible technology solutions to problems that have already been deployed on a large scale, rather than those that are just hype. 

Thibault Serlet is the director of research at the Adrianople Group, a business intelligence advisory firm.

This article first appeared in the October/November 2023 print edition of fDi Intelligence