Bold Strategies for Funding the Future
Groundbreaking ideas and visionary plans need finance to become reality. Cities must find financial partners and alternative economic models to achieve sustainable goals, perform community projects, and foster local growth. What options do cities have to finance public projects when national or regional budgets fall short? How crucial is cross-sector collaboration for financing? How can we unlock local investments to shift to clean and equitable economies?
This session featured the participation of our global partners KPMG International.
A Digital Revolution Designed for All
What obstacles arise in urban environments that hinder digital equality and inclusion, and how can cities address them? In what ways are local governments promoting digital equity and social justice to ensure equal access to technology? This roundtable will explore the innovative strategies that cities are employing to bridge the digital divide, ensuring that all residents have equitable access to technology, digital literacy, and the opportunities they facilitate.
Pathways to Digital Democracy: Lessons from the global south
This keynote presents a toolkit for developing four pillars of digital democracy –democratic governance, participatory citizenship, digital diversity and rights to information. The toolkit charts a collection of instruments, measures and guidelines to empower marginal social groups. It thus enables those dispossessed of the public sphere of the city and the digital realm alike, to claim, inhabit and thrive in both urban and digital spaces.
Wellbeing-Based Smart City Policy Design
How can smart cities improve well-being and life satisfaction of citizens? Takehiko will present a new smart city policy design approach that focuses on both subjective and objective well-being of citizens as a basis of designing smart city polities. This one of the kind approach was developed by Smart City Institute Japan and has been extended to use in about 100 cities in Japan as part of the national digital transformation strategy to revitalize regional economy and society.
Enabling Technologies to Enhance Quality of Life in Hail City
This session will feature the participation of our global partner Hail Municipality.
How Cities are Digitally Transforming: Preliminary Findings from 2024 Smart Cities Index Report
This keynote presentation highlights how different municipalities are moving towards building sovereign urban intelligence (AI) through the 4th edition of smart city index report published bi-annually. The report is perhaps the only comparative study launched and maintained by a neutral institution to foresee how AI impacts on current smart city practices and future perspectives. The report also added other perspectives to support AI transformation. The longitudinal view since 2017, based on a temporary series of bench-marking data, will provide invaluable insights based on the analysis of 50 cities around the globe.
Driving Public Sector Innovation through GovTech
GovTech enables public administrations to adopt technology-driven solutions that create advanced digital services, transforming citizen experiences and delivering simple, efficient, and transparent public services. This session explores the global GovTech landscape, focusing on innovation, strategy development, and international partnerships. Discover how GovTech fosters collaboration, enhances public services, and drives innovation worldwide.
People-Centred Smart Cities towards a Inclusive Global Digital Future
Discussions will focus on how the ‘International Guidelines on People-Centred Smart Cities’ can contribute to more inclusive smart city development, as they are developed upon the request of 193 Member States. The event emphasizes the strategic convergence of global frameworks with local leadership, particularly highlighting the critical roles city leaders play in driving urban digital transformation, supported by practical examples.
How Cities Are Cooling Neighborhoods and Buildings to Protect Residents
Cities are where the impacts of extreme heat events are felt hardest. Extreme heat events have been identified as the most lethal of climate-related disasters, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations including the elderly, economically and socially disadvantaged, and those with disabilities. This session shares lessons from C40 cities on how they act to cool neighborhoods and […]
Decarbonizing the Future one Building at a Time
How is the building sector adapting to city sustainability initiatives? How can the built environment help mitigate urban climate change impacts? This session delves into new construction practices that align with city-level sustainability goals. Discussions will explore the challenges and opportunities for the building sector in supporting urban sustainability objectives, particularly in combating climate change […]