The second edition of the event, from May 17 to 18, seeks greater dissemination with a strong social focus through activities for the local population.

Smart City Expo World Congress is again celebrating its first -and the only one so far- African event in the Moroccan city of Casablanca. Organized jointly by Fira de Barcelona and the region of Casablanca-Settat, the municipality of Casablanca and its prefecture through Casablanca Events & Animation, this edition of Smart City Expo focuses specifically on open, inclusive and innovative cities and combines a double Agenda, a Congress for professionals and a citizenship program that aims to turn the event into the key event of urban development in North Africa.

The congress program has more than 80 speakers and is structured in four thematic axes: Sustainability and resilience; Mobility and urban planning; Collaborative Cities and Citizen Participation, and Technology and Sustainable Development, which include two keynotes, four plenary sessions and eight parallel sessions. Speakers included Boyd Cohen, urban and climate strategist and Professor of Sustainability and Entrepreneurship at the School of High Management and Administration of Barcelona; Carlo Ratti, director of MIT's Senseable City Lab; and Mustapha Bakkoury, president of the Casablanca-Settat region (Morocco).

POPULAR ACTIVITIES  

Smart City Expo Casablanca 2017 will also carry out a series of citizen activities that take the concept of smart city to the very heart of the Moroccan city, with the aim of promoting a new model of sustainable urban and social management and development. Under the motto 'For an open, inclusive and innovative city', these activities want to publicize and demystify the concept of smart city with four free events: University in the city, a fair that shows several smart initiatives; The public screening of the film 'Human' by Yann Arthus-Bertrand; Free Wi-Fi throughout the city for four days, and a 72-hour hackathon to develop new urban apps.

This double aspect, along with the strategic interest of the smart cities for Morocco, has contributed to the granting of the Royal High Patronage for the Smart City Expo Casablanca by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, through which the Alawite monarch has wanted to boost the event.

INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION 

With Smart City Expo Casablanca, Fira de Barcelona continues its strategy of international expansion of the Smart City Expo World Congress through a series of international events. After several editions in America and Asia, this year Smart City Expo Istanbul (14-16 November), an event with a special focus on the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, will also be seen. Smart City Expo World Congress, the mother event, will celebrate its 2017 edition in the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona from 15 to 17 November.