Awards given to projects and individuals contributing to sustainable smart city development, with a focus on inclusivity and innovation<\/p>\n
World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) hosted the award ceremony for the second Seoul Smart City Prize at COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in Seoul. The ceremony recognized outstanding smart city initiatives that prioritize human-centric and technological innovation.<\/p>\n
Among the top honorees were the cities of Abu-Dhabi and Cali, as well as the mayors of Addis Ababa, Arlington, Baguio City and Iligan. Out of over 220 submissions from 54 countries and 104 cities with regional distribution made globally throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America and Oceania 42 semi-finalists were invited to attend the Seoul Smart City Prize Ceremony. WeGO acknowledged 21 cities, corporations, institutions, and individuals across several categories for their exceptional contributions to smart urban development.<\/p>\n
Baguio City, Philippines earned the Human-CentriCity Gold Award for its commitment to digital inclusion, particularly through its Leadership, Empowerment, and Advocacy for Inclusive and Accessible Health Governance System. The city\u2019s healthcare system faces issues like fragmented records, inefficiencies, and care gaps, leading to higher costs and delays. BIAG project addresses this by providing accessible health records, telemedicine, and equitable healthcare access. It connects hospitals for seamless care with comprehensive medical records from birth to death. BIAG aims to transform healthcare in Baguio City and beyond, ensuring efficient, inclusive, and high-quality care for all.<\/p>\n
Reykjavik, Iceland, secured the Tech-InnovaCity Gold Award, recognized for its Better City For Children – School Services project, which empowers local communities to play a vital role in schooling services development efforts. Reykjavik revamped its school services by creating a digital system, streamlining applications, and improving communication. Key changes included secure info-sharing between teachers and specialists, forming solution teams for early intervention, and replacing paper forms with a single digital application. These efforts boosted the efficiency of school services.<\/p>\n
In the Leadership Prize category, Adanech Abiebie, Mayor of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was honored for his significant contributions to Addis Ababa\u2019s development and residents\u2019 well-being, positioning the city as an international leader in smart urbanism.<\/p>\n
Special recognition was also awarded in collaboration with key partners such as the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and SEMI. GGGI\u2019s Special Mention went to Iligan, IMD awarded Istanbul while SEMI awarded Dassault Syst\u00e8mes with Special Mentions for their outstanding contributions to sustainable urban growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were truly impressed by the remarkable breadth of smart city projects from around the world, all of which embody innovation and inclusivity. These qualities are precisely what the Seoul Smart City Prize seeks to highlight. Our evaluation process was rigorous, ensuring that the projects selected represent the best in human-centered smart city development,\u201d said Jeong-kee Kim, Secretary-General of WeGO.<\/p>\n
The WeGO Secretary-General further added, \u201cThis marks the beginning of a tradition that will celebrate smart city projects dedicated to solving urban challenges and fostering inclusivity. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to all participants in this year\u2019s inaugural Seoul Smart City Prize.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Seoul Smart City Prize Ceremony was attended by the last year prize winners who came to Seoul to participate in the Off-line Training Program for the Prize Winners 2023 and joined the Seoul Smart Life Week to welcome 2024 winners and celebrate this moment together.<\/p>\n
The selection process was conducted in partnership with Seoul National University\u2019s Center for International Development Evaluation, with three evaluation rounds. Winners were selected by a distinguished panel of smart city experts. The 2024 prize finalists received their awards from Seoul Smart City Prize Steering Committee members and also from 2023 Seoul Smart City Prize winning cities, including Yves Daccord, President of Le Temps; Ajit Manocha, President & CEO of SEMI; Frank Rijsberman, Director-General of GGGI; Bruno Lanvin, President of the IMD Smart City Observatory, Mayor of Medina, Fahad Albuliheshi, and Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Maimunah Mohd Sharif and Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles, Mathew Hale.<\/p>\n
Photo: Seoul Mayor Se-hoon Oh, WeGO Secretary-General Jeong-kee Kim, and other WeGO representatives and prize winners pose for a commemorative photo at the 2nd Seoul Smart City Awards ceremony held at the COEX convention center <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Awards given to projects and individuals contributing to sustainable smart city development, with a focus on inclusivity and innovation World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) hosted the award ceremony for the second Seoul Smart City Prize at COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in Seoul. The ceremony recognized outstanding smart city initiatives that prioritize human-centric and\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_scj_primary_category_id":10,"_scj_featured":false,"_scj_featured_from":"","_scj_featured_until":"","_scj_featured_order":0,"_scj_visibility_class":"current","_scj_layout_family":"standard","_scj_article_style":"","_scj_display_overrides":[],"_scj_intro_image_id":18926,"_scj_intro_alt":"Seoul Smart City Prize Winners Receive Awards from WeGO","_scj_intro_caption":"","_scj_intro_class":"","_scj_intro_float":"","_scj_full_image_id":18926,"_scj_full_alt":"Seoul Smart City Prize Winners Receive Awards from WeGO","_scj_full_caption":"","_scj_full_class":"","_scj_full_float":"","_scj_media_type":"","_scj_media_provider":"","_scj_media_external_id":"","_scj_media_url":"","_scj_media_poster_id":0,"_scj_media_width":0,"_scj_media_height":0,"_scj_media_aspect_ratio":"","_scj_media_description":"","_scj_gallery_items":[],"_scj_related_post_ids":[],"_scj_additional_authors":[],"scj_layout_family":"standard","scj_media_provider":"","scj_media_url":"","scj_full_caption":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cities"],"yoast_head":"\n