Smart City Expo will show the sustainable urban development of 850 cities

The exhibition area of ​​the Gran Vía exhibition center has grown by 30 percent in this edition so that metropolises around the world can share projects, experiences and the technologies developed to implement their transformation as more sustainable, efficient and habitable urban spaces . The congress program is structured around eight main pillars: Enabling Technologies, Energy and Environment, Mobility, Governance, Life and Inclusion, Economy, Infrastructure and Buildings, and Security and Protection.

Change to live better

In the words of Ugo Valenti, director of Smart City Expo World Congress, the event “aims to establish a common strategy for the urban innovation: improve well-being, create opportunities and foster a better relationship with our planet and our communities. The expert warns that “if we want to live better, we must change our way of life, take advantage of technology, innovation and collaboration.” With this objective, Valenti adds that the Barcelona event “offers a meeting point for all those involved to meet and draw up a roadmap towards a better tomorrow.”

A report by OBS Business School points out that the connectivity in many smart cities is insufficient today to cover the enormous amount of data that is generated, while warning that the Spanish population of cities will double in 2050, a horizon in which the data generated by the sensors will exceed 73 zettabytes and their management will represent an enormous challenge, especially cybersecurity and trust in citizens through clear and rigorous regulations, in addition to determining what must be taught to the AI ​​so that it is capable to make fair and equal decisions.

The role of startups

SCEWC will also delve this year into the role that startups play in their process of developing new technologies. To this end, the event will premiere the Innovation Playgrounda space to connect the main actors in the global innovation ecosystem, including startups, investors, governments, corporations and research centers. In addition, the SCEWC will celebrate the third edition of the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, a Barcelona Activa event focused on scientific-technological entrepreneurship and university spin-offs.

SCEWC will feature some of the leading thinkers in the urban field. Among the 600 speakers, Ruha Benjamin, Majora, Carter, Stephanie Hare and Melati Wijsen stand out. Benjamin is a professor of African American studies at Princeton University and has studied how technologies and scientific advances impact social justice and inequality. Carter has transformed the South Bronx, his birthplace, by promoting green space, sustainable economic development, and equitable community engagement, while Hare is a specialist in the impact of technology on public policy, human rights, human rights and social justice and Wijsen is an environmental activist and co-founder of Bye Bye Plastic Bags, a youth movement to reduce plastic waste.

The event will also present the World Smart City Awards to recognize the most outstanding initiatives and projects in the innovation and urban transformation sector. With a total of 429 nominations from 64 countries, the thirteenth edition of these awards will be the largest to date.

The SCEWC show will be held jointly with the third edition of Tomorrow.Mobility World Congressthe event organized by Fira de Barcelona and EIT Urban Mobility of the European Union and which is intended to develop a new paradigm of sustainable urban mobility; In addition to the second editions of Tomorrow Buildingfocused on innovative construction, and Tomorrow. Blue Economyaimed at using the full potential of ocean resources for sustainable economic growth.