Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) 2023 has set the stage for a new era of urban innovation with this year’s event, co-hosted with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow.Building, and Tomorrow.Blue Economy in collaboration with EIT Urban Mobility, delivered record-breaking achievements. Over three days, more than 25,300 attendees from 140 countries convened at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue.
The gathering of 600 experts explored diverse strategies implemented globally to address urban challenges in areas such as Mobility, Governance, Sustainability, and Inclusion. Notable keynote speakers included Nathan Blecharczyk, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Airbnb; Joan Laporta, President of FC Barcelona; computer scientist and Algorithmic Bias expert Margaret Mitchell; AI-specialised lawyer Micaela Mantegna, and former UK Minister for Energy & Clean Growth and sustainable development expert, Claire O’Neill.
Collectively, these events hosted a total of 1,106 exhibitors, marking a 29.7% increase compared to 2022. These exhibitors showcased their latest projects and solutions, with industry leaders such as Aramco, Axis, BSM, Cisco, CBRE, Dassault Systemes, Dell, Deloitte, Drees&Sommer, FCC, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, KIA, Microsoft, Moventis, Nvidia, PTV Group, PWC, Racc, Renfe, Roshn Group, Samoo Architects & Engineers, Samsung C&T Corporation, Sener, Siemens, SPIE, Smart Ports: Piers of the Future, and Veolia among the prominent participants.
Representatives from over 800 cities and countries were present, including Brazil, China, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Nordics, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and the USA. They showcased their latest initiatives, featuring projects that employ Digital Twins to represent and monitor urban areas or use Artificial Intelligence to manage mobility and other city services.
Ugo Valenti, Director of Smart City Expo World Congress, remarked, “Smart City Expo 2023 has affirmed that we are ushering in a new era for cities, one of innovation and sustainability, as our theme for this year highlighted. Over three days, we’ve witnessed how cities and companies are paving the way for a better future, and we are proud that our event and Barcelona have been chosen as the global hub for this collaborative effort.”
Maria Tsavachidis, CEO of EIT Urban Mobility and President of Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, added, “Tomorrow.Mobility brought together more people than ever before. The active participation of hundreds of companies and multiple institutions, alongside the engaging discussions around critical themes of urban mobility, showcases the industry’s dedication to shaping sustainable urban mobility. We are inspired by the knowledge-sharing and collaborations that emerged from the event and look forward to continued cooperation within the wider urban mobility ecosystem to ensure cities become more liveable for all.”
World Smart City awards
The Brazilian city of Curitiba received the Smart City of 2023 award at the World Smart City Awards, recognising outstanding initiatives and projects in the innovation and urban transformation industry. This year’s edition also featured a special recognition for Anna Lisa Boni, Deputy Mayor of Bologna and Secretary General of Eurocities from 2014 to 2021, and Claudio Orrego, Governor of the Santiago de Chile Metropolitan Region, both recipients of the Leadership Award.
Exponential technologies
The Gran Via venue also hosted the third edition of PUZZLE X, an event organised by MATTER that delved into the potential of exponential technologies. Topics ranged from Planet Tech and Quantum World to Physical AI, Exotic Computing, Quantum Cities, Bio Tech & Genomics, Ultimate Connectivity Matterverse, Brain-Machine Interfaces, DNA Data Storage, 6G, Digital Atoms, Fusion Energy, and Helium 3.
Smart City Expo World Congress will return to the Gran Via venue in Barcelona for its thirteenth edition on November 5-7, 2024.
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