The summit includes delegations from countries such as China, India, Denmark, the USA and the UK.
The sixth edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), on 15-17 November in Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via exhibition centre, brings together 600 cities from five continents in the biggest-ever gathering of municipal authorities in the event's history. The cities represented will be examining the latest trends in the use of technologies to implement sustainable urban planning and discussing the common challenges facing them in the future. Barcelona will thus become the global capital of smart cities during the three days of the event.
Of the 600 cities attending SCEWC, 50 of them will have their own pavilions. New York, Berlin, Casablanca, Graz, Karlsruhe, London, Luxembourg, Quebec, Seoul, Vienna, Tel Aviv, Copenhagen, Medellín and Barcelona are just some of the cities that will be showcasing their innovations in the implementation of smart solutions for metropolitan growth. With the presence of cities from five continents, SCEWC has consolidated itself as an essential meeting point and a crucial bridge for sharing smart experiences and exemplary practices among the cities and territories of the world.
It is worth highlighting the high number of cities from India and Asia, with the organisation of events such as the China Forum, organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development of the People's Republic of China, which will bring together the leading players and companies such as Huawei and ZTE to analyse the strategies being driven by the Asian giant to implement smart solutions in the metropolitan growth of China's cities.
As well as the cities taking part, SCEWC will be hosting some of the leading companies in the sectors of mobility, communications and technology, such as Cisco, Microsoft, FCC, Ferrovial, Fiware, MasterCard, Philips, Seat, Siemens, Telefónica, Suez, SAP and Telekom, amongst others. The involvement of these companies makes the event a key meeting place for cities looking to meet their future development needs and firms whose smart products and solutions have the capacity to respond to the challenges posed by urban transformation.
With over 600 cities, 412 speakers and the leading companies in the smart urban solutions industry, SCEWC 2016 will be the biggest-ever edition
The participating cities and exhibitors at the show will share the event with the 412 planned speakers at the round tables. The programme of conferences at this edition of SCEWC is based on the theme of ‘Cities for Citizens', focusing on the design of strategies for citizen empowerment and the democratic participation of people in the development of their cities. Speakers include the expert on the circular economy, Ellen MacArthur; the director of Big Boulder and a benchmark in the field of big data, Susan Etlinger; the co-founder of the Commons Strategies Group and activist in the fight against the excesses of intellectual property law, David Bollier, and international geopolitical analyst Parag Khanna, as the keynote speakers at the event.
With over 600 cities, 412 speakers and the leading companies in the smart urban solutions industry, SCEWC 2016 will be the biggest-ever edition of what is already the premier world event on smart cities. Moreover, this year it has enlarged its international scope with new events in Casablanca (Morocco), Istanbul (Turkey), Kyoto (Japan) and Puebla (Mexico).