Apulia Innovation

In 2050, 75% of the world population will live in cities. Added to demographic growth outlook and the current model of service provision –expensive and not very sustainable- this requires reflection on how new cities will absorb the population and manage existing resources if they want to guarantee the quality of life of their inhabitants in a sustainable manner. Fira de Barcelona’s new event, Smart City Expo & World Congress, which will make its debut in November, aims to contribute to responding to the challenges that will arise with this scenario and redefine current cities.

The term ‘Smart City’ defines those cities that apply innovative solutions in areas such as mobility, the environment, information and communication technologies (ICT), town planning, energy consumption, knowledge economy and governance in order to guarantee sustainable economic and urban development in an environment that offers a good quality of life for its citizens.   

In short, it is a case of transforming cities through technology available today to make them more habitable and sustainable. The importance of this new industrial sector has been confirmed with the creation, in various multi-nationals, of specific divisions that encompass products and solutions to transform existing cities into smart cities, such as IBM, Cisco, Siemens, Accenture and Ferrovial.

This importance has an economic translation. Figures on the potential turnover of the new smart city market vary depending on the source, but it could be as high as 1.2 trillion dollars in the next 10 years, according to Cisco Systems.

Smart City Expo & World Congress will be the meeting point for heads of public administrations, experts, professionals in different fields and companies. The event will give the keys to understanding the development and workings of smart cities and to finding resources to finance initiatives of this type at a time of budgetary restrictions.

The event will tackle future challenges faced by cities: How to combine urban growth and sustainable development. How to promote ecological transport systems in a context of rapid population growth. How to finance and implement effective projects in the current context of budgetary restrictions.

The congress is an essential event to respond to all these questions and to study the concept of smart cities in depth. To do so, it will dedicate specific blocks in the morning and afternoon to each of the topics relating to the field of action of smart cities. The first day will be dedicated to ICTs and the relationship of cities with life and their inhabitants. The second day will focus on town planning and the challenges in terms of government and financing, while the third will tackle the challenges in   the areas of the environment and energy. The last day will deal with transport and mobility, highlighting the importance of the electric vehicle. 

The programme will be completed by four side events dedicated to analysing the development of smart initiatives in more specific areas: Smart Spain for initiatives implemented in the Spanish context; Smart Rural for rural trends; Smart Green to explore the relation between the city and green zones and ecological consumption; and the International Railway Forum, which will explore the synergies with the railway sphere.

Summit of cities
The role that cities play in an important event like Smart City Expo & World Congress is crucial given that they are not only receptors of changes, but also the main driving force of the transformations. For this reason, the accumulated experiences of those cities that have already implemented smart initiatives are decisive. Wishing to capitalise on this knowledge, the event has reserved specific spaces in the programme, which will feature presentations of practical cases implemented successfully in different parts of the planet.

More than fifty cities have confirmed their presence in the event, such as Bangalore, Birmingham, Bologna, Boulder City, Buenos Aires, Malaga, Paris, Portland, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Santander, Santiago de Chile, Sao Paolo, Seoul, Sidney, Tongxian and Vitacura headed by the mayor of the town.

Leading experts and companies
The congress will bring together prestigious keynote speakers and will analyse practical cases of smart cities. The list includes Anne Altman, General Manager, Public Sector, IBM; Anthony Townsend, Director of Research at the Institute for the Future; Michael Braungart, Director of the Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency; Eric Britton, Director of EcoPlan International; Carlo Ratti, Director of Senseable City Lab, MIT; Jeremy Rifkin, founder of the Foundation on Economic Trends; and Nicola Villa, Global Director of Urban Innovation of Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group.

In addition to the conferences, there will also be an exhibition area, in which innovative companies, cities and institutions will be able to show their benchmark projects, solutions and products. Smart City Expo & World Congress already ahs the support of companies such as Abertis, Accenture, Acciona, Agbar, Atos Origin, Comsa Emte, Cisco Systems, CSC, Enel, Endesa, FCC, Ferrovial, Gas Natural Fenosa, IBM, Indra, Ros Roca, Siemens, Schneider Electric, Telefónica, Urbaser and Wonderware, among others.

Synergies with the railway sector
The event will coincide with the second Bcn Rail show, dedicated to the railway industry, which will host the 1st International Railway Forum.  For four days, the most relevant issues that affect the railway industry will be debated, such as railway transport of merchandise and the connection of the Spanish network with the European one. It will also provide the setting for various international workshops on new business avenues in emerging countries, which exploit the railway as a development tool, such as Algeria, Russia, Turkey and India.

www.smartcityexpo.com

Originally Published 2011-11-28