The conference Empowering smart solutions for better cities, taking place in Budapest on 2 & 3 October 2017, will bring together creative thinkers and decision-makers in urban planning, sustainable energy, mobility, ICT, smart business models and user-centric innovation. High level city representatives will debate the transformation of European cities, while smart cities projects will showcase innovative solutions and discuss crucial steps on the path to a smarter city.
This smart cities conference, organised by the Smart Cities Information System (SCIS) and the European Commission, is seeking to encourage the replication of technological solutions, good practices and lesson learning among cities and businesses. It will contribute to the ambition of accelerating Europe’s transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient, competitive and inclusive economy. Interactively designed, the event will engage the audience in full participation and collective story-telling.
The first day of the conference, 2 October (Monday), kicks off with an inspirational talk from Usman Haque, Founding Partner of Umbrellium - collective of architects, designers, tactical urbanists and creative technologists based in London. Umbrellium’s team designs technological tools to support citizen empowerment and high-impact engagement in cities. Usman will set the scene for two days of vibrant discussions and interactive sessions demonstrating how innovation building, technological transfer and knowledge sharing helps the transformation of our cities.
Speakers include Gotzone Sagardui, Deputy Mayor of Bilbao, Balázs Szeneczey, Deputy Mayor of Urban development of Budapest; Ulf Kamne, Deputy Mayor of Gothenburg; Dominique Ristori, Director General of DG Energy at the European Commission and Tomasz Pactwa, Director of the Welfare & Social Projects Department of Warsaw.
The second day, 3 October (Tuesday) is dedicated to the telling of success stories originating from smart cities businesses and projects. These projects will present best practice case studies illustrating the blend of technology, finance, society, communication and governance; demonstrating tools and innovative solutions and introducing exciting points of view. The call for presentations is now closed, the selected sessions will be announced shortly.
For those interested in the smart cities features of the Hungarian capital, the organisers have prepared a Smart walking tour of Budapest, which includes the state-of-the art Central European University building; the large-scale traffic reduction and mobility measures of the ‘Heart of Budapest’ programmel; the first underground line in continental Europe; and a geothermal energy project, where waste heat from a thermal spring is fed into the heating network of an adjacent zoo.
If you are a creative minded individual and interested in contributing to the smart future our cities, you can register for this event here. Registration closes on 10 September.