The smart city sector continues to expand exponentially and analysts have projected that it will hit $775 billion by 2021, following the announcement that more than 600 cities are set to go 'smart' in the next few years.

Chinese firm YITU Technology (YITU) which is a leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and innovation has officially launched a new office in Singapore. The new facility will serve as the company’s regional hub in order to help YITU accelerate its award-winning and renowned AI and facial recognition solutions to whole series of new customers, partners and markets in regions such as Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macau and Oceania.

A Chinese bicycle-sharing start-up has formally announced that it plans to expand its business into Japan. Beijing Mobike Technology has enjoyed incredible success since its inception - and its disclosure that it has set-up a subsidiary in the Japanese city of Fukuoka has cemented its status as one of the fastest-growing start-up companies in the world.

Ford Motor Co has announced its plans to open a 'smart mobility' facility in the UK. The US automotive colossus will extend its services by opening a new office in London - and plans to start a workforce of forty people. The 'smart mobility' facility will be located on Here East campus which is co-working business incubator, set up in part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The BMW Group continues to drive the expansion of electro-mobility as part of its Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT. To achieve this, the company is adapting its production structures to growing demand for fully and partially electrified vehicles. Just seven months after opening its battery factory in China, the BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) joint venture today laid the foundation for a comprehensive expansion of the plant. At the “High-Voltage Battery Centre Phase II”, BBA will produce the new, more powerful batteries of the fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology for the fully-electric BMW iX3. Starting in 2020, the BMW iX3 will be built at the neighbouring BBA plant Dadong.

US search engine giant Google has formally announced its plans to launch its innovative free public Wi-Fi initiative in Indonesia following the success of the program in India. Google's Wi-Fi project is entitled Google Station and it has been heralded as a brilliant success in India, since debuting in the region eighteen months ago.

US technology behemoth Google has announced that it will spend $13bn in expanding its US data centre network.

Google's aspirations to extend the reach of its innovative drone delivery service has encountered a number of issues and plans to begin a wider launch of the product that have been put on hold. Google's parent company Alphabet, a leading software company, has revealed its ambitious plan for a marketplace that could order anything from a coffee to toilet paper and have it within minutes.

Google's self-driving firm Waymo has announced that it is expanding its operations by adding 62,000 Fiat Chrysler minivans to its autonomous fleet in a collaboration agreement jointly announced by the two companies.

A South Korean 'smart glass' solutions company has expanded its operations with the formation of a European firm that will be headquartered in the UK. G-SMATT, announced that the new European arm of the company will be called G-SMATT Europe and will be spearheaded by Dr. Orhan Ertughrul. The HQ for the firm will be in Oxford.

Nokia has acquired Space Time Insight to expand its Internet of Things (IoT) portfolio and IoT analytics capabilities, and accelerate the development of new IoT applications for key vertical markets.

Chinese 'smart bike' sharing service Mobike has announced that it will use IoT technology solutions from US chipmaker Qualcomm and telecommunications colossus AT&T in a bid to accelerate its expansion plans in the United States.

Swedish telecommunications firm Telia has announced expansion plans for its connected car service in new markets in both Northern and Eastern Europe. The connected car service which is entitled Telia Sense, is a cloud-based platform that offers connected car services to both old and new vehicles has proved to be a massive success following its deployments in Sweden and Denmark.

Telenor announced the establishment of two new points of presence (PoP) in North America to meet customer demands in a high traffic region by enabling Voice and IPX based services, including LTE based signaling and data roaming. The two US PoPs add to the Telenor network which now includes 14 locations across North America, Europe and Asia.

A US online media corporation that is specifically designed for moviegoers has announced exciting expansion plans for Latin America. Fandango, which is the leading digital network globally for film enthusiasts has decided to switch its focus towards South America - and has unveiled a new global brand strategy for the continent.

A US ride-services firm has bolstered its attempts to compete for market share with its fierce and larger rival Uber Technologies Inc. by raising $600m in fresh funding. Lyft which was launched in 2012 - has continued to invest in its growth in order to expand its services. This year, the company has extended its services to 100 new cities.

Recognizing Dubai as the epicenter for innovation in region, Avaya Holdings Corp has announced that it will be building on its long-standing relationship with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) by opening a Customer Experience Center (CEC) at One Central, a new international Grade-A mixed-use development in the heart of the city.

UK telecommunications colossus Vodafone is launching a consumer IoT product which will allow its customers to connect millions of home and leisure electronic products to the company's dedicated global IoT network, which is subsequently the largest in the world.