Smart City Expo, the leading international summit for cities and urban innovation, created an event for the Covid era and you are our special guest
With Bright Cities as official media partner, the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) returns for another year of debates on smart cities, this time as Smart City Live (#SCLive2020). Organized by Fira de Barcelona from November 17-18th, this year’s summit will provide a unique two-day digital experience aimed at cities, governors and, of course, citizens.
Afterall, we have a lot to talk about: COVID-19 has turned everything inside out, including our cities. The pandemic has left an indelible mark on the outlook of the urban coat and is forcing city officials to rethink the urban development and adapt it to coronavirus risks and fears. Meeting those needs presents an incredibly urgent and disconcertingly novel set of challenges. So, what are cities doing beyond locking down and freezing up? What kind of systems should they put in place to be more resilient?
To talk through the variety of ways that cities around the world are coping with this new scenario, Smart City Live (#SCLive2020) will gather the leading actors, institutions and international experts on smart cities during the two days of event. The first day (November 17) consists of a full-day live television show in which leading actors and international experts on smart cities, such as Saskia Sassen, Parag Khanna or Carlo Ratti, will discuss the most pressing issues affecting cities in these corona times. The second day (November 18) features online workshops and side events with high-level sector players to discuss the key challenges that cities are facing beyond the short-term context arisen by the pandemic.
The goal is clear: to provide a platform to accelerate the recovery of urban ecosystems and set the ground to deliver better services to citizens. There are, of course, recurring and pre-pandemic themes that will make a comeback with a new light, such as density and mass transit.
SCEWC’s director, Ugo Valenti, said that “our main goal this year is to provide a platform to reconnect and rebuild ecosystems and accelerate recovery of urban ecosystems, with a new model that allows us, through the digital medium, to connect and reach every actor in our industry. The current situation will undoubtedly leave its mark on cities and the way they function, but it will do it for good, helping us to build metropolises capable of better delivering the services and resources its inhabitants need and ready to respond to new threats. Smart City Live is our contribution to this collective effort.”
As an official media partner, Bright Cities will gather the most important topics discussed during the event specially for you, so do not forget to follow us on our social networks and News Platform! Accurate content will also be broadcast from Barcelona to the world through the event’s website and also via via Tomorrow.City, a new digital platform powered by SCEWC to offer multiple business and awareness resources to their community all year round. With a multi-stakeholder approach and through collaborative intelligence, it aims to accelerate sustainable and inclusive cities for all and will run through four different fields of actions focusing on data, knowledge, business and awareness.
And save the date! The flagship event Smart City Expo World Congress as we knew it before the pandemic will be back in 2021 presenting an enhanced hybrid, cross-platform experience together with the Smart Mobility Congress and Retail & Brand Experience World Congress at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue. We can’t wait to return to Barcelona and participate in the main meetings on smart cities, as we did in 2019.
In the meantime, SCLive2020 is a unique opportunity to keep the sector engaged and accelerate change for citizens worldwide.
