On 24th May 2016 the annual General Assembly of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities took place in Eindhoven (Netherlands), an associated event of the Dutch Presidency of the European Council of the European Union.
The assembly attracted over 500 registered participants from across all sectors of the EIP. To facilitate stocktaking of achievements and focus on important steps ahead, the assembly was divided in public high-level debates and closed meetings of the core EIP Initiatives.
Rob van Gijzel, Mayor of Eindhoven, opened the conference. During its highly motivated intervention, he stressed the need to work together both at European and local level. “Connection and collaboration between cities can give new meaning to the EU”, said Mr. Van Gijzel, who also addressed that it is not only about smart cities, but about smart people.
After his intervention, Violeta Bulc, Commissioner for Transport, and Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Dutch Minister for Infrastructure and Environment, took the floor to discuss what is being done to support smart cities of the future. They both agreed that lots of things can and need to be done to deliver smart cities that benefit citizen’s needs.
The morning session continued with a high-level panel debate moderated by Henk Ovink, Special Envoy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, which discussed investment needs and opportunities for smart cities at European scale, and finished with the intervention of Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President of the European Commission, who talked about the importance of the energy policies and renewable alternatives and encouraged the audience to “smarten” European cities.