Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the leading international event on cities and smart urban solutions, will host its largest edition yet from November 5-7, 2024, at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue.
With a 30 percent growth in the exhibition floorspace and under the theme “Live Better,” the 2024 edition will delve into the strategies needed to transform metropolises into sustainable, efficient, and livable spaces and will gather 1,100 exhibitors representatives of 850 cities and over 600 experts to outline “a more ethical urban future together”.
The event will gather over 600 speakers and international experts in its congress to share the latest experiences, strategies, and breakthroughs in urban transformation.
The conference program is structured around eight main tracks enabling technologies, energy and environment, mobility, governance, living and inclusion, economy, infrastructure & buildings, and safety & security.
The event will bring together metropolises from all over the globe to share their latest projects and experiences and promote the technologies developed to deploy them.
With representatives from over 850 cities in attendances, among the countries and cities exhibiting are Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, UK, and USA.
Ugo Valenti, director of Smart City Expo World Congress, stated, “Smart City Expo 2024 aims to set a common target for urban innovation worldwide improve welfare, create opportunities, and foster a better relationship with our planet and communities.
“If we want to live better, we must rethink our way of life, leveraging technology, innovation, and collaboration. We want to offer a meeting point for all actors in this field to get together and draft a roadmap to a better tomorrow.”
Leading companies from around the world will showcase the latest solutions and technologies enabling cities to improve mobility, public services, utilities and citizen engagement such as saudi aramco, Axis Communications, Dahua Technology, Dassault Systèmes, Dell Nvidia, FCC Medio Ambiente, Hail City, KHNP, KPMG, Madinah City, MDEC, Microsoft, New Murabba, Nova Cidade, PNY, PWC, Roshn Group, Smart Ports Piers of the Future, and Veolia.
Moreover, in 2024 SCEWC will delve deeper into the role that start-ups have in their developing process of new technologies. To do so, the event will debut the Innovation playground, a space to connect the main players of the global innovation ecosystem including startups, investors, governments, corporations, and research centers.
In addition, SCEWC will also hold the third edition of the barcelona Deep Tech Summit, an event by Barcelona Activa focused on scientific tech entrepreneurship and university spin-offs.
Keynote speaker lineup
The 2024 edition of SCEWC will feature some of the leading thinkers in the urban sphere. Among the 600 speakers Ruha Benjamin, Majora Carter, Stephanie Hare, and Melati Wijsen stand out.
Benjamin is a renowned expert in technology-based inequity who has focused her work on the intersection of race, technology, and society. Professor of african american studies at princeton university, benjamin has studied how emerging technologies and scientific advancements impact social justice and inequality.
Majora Carter is an awarded urban revitalization strategist and environmental advocate known for her efforts to transform the South Bronx, her hometown, by promoting green spaces, sustainable economic development, and equitable community engagement.
How technology impacts public policy, human rights, and social justice is the domain of stephanie Hare. With a background in both academia and industry, Hare has worked on issues related to data privacy, surveillance, and the ethical use of artificial intelligence.
Melati wijsen is an environmental activist and co-founder of Bye Bye Plastic bags, a youth-led movement aimed at reducing plastic waste. She started the organization at age 12 and has since become a prominent advocate for sustainability and youth empowerment.
Melati has been recognized globally for her efforts, including being featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and speaking at international forums such as the United Nations.
World Smart City Awards
SCEWC will also host a new edition of the world smart city awards to acknowledge the most outstanding initiatives and projects in the innovation and urban transformation industry. With a total of 429 entries from 64 countries, the 13th edition of these accolades is the biggest to date.
The winners of the 9 categories featured – City, Leadership, Innovation, enabling technologies project, energy and environment project, mobility project, governance and economy project, living and Inclusion project, and infrastructure and buildings project will be announced during a special gala hosted on the evening of Wednesday, November 6th.
Largest showcase of Urban Innovation
Fira de barcelona will strengthen its role a global hub for urban innovation by holding SCEWC 2024 together with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, Tomorrow Building World Congress, and tomorrow.Blue economy.
Tomorrow mobility world Congress, jointly organized by fira de barcelona and EIT urban mobility, an initiative of the european Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the european union, aims to speed up the adoption of new sustainable urban mobility paradigms.
Focusing on topics as New mobility services, public transport, autonomous mobility, last mile logistics, data for mobility, Mobility Infrastructure, zero and low-emission mobility, active and Inclusive mobility.
In addition, tomorrow.building world congress will bring together the construction sector to showcase the most innovative solutions, projects and strategies for transforming the industry.
To do so, the event will focus on five major challenges urban planning and landscaping, construction technology, design technology, decarbonised building and sustainable transformation of buildings.
With over 100 experts and 30 conference sessions, the congress will give special relevance to women in the construction industry featuring architects melike altinisik and liselott stenfeldt as keynote speakers.
Tomorrow blue economy will hold its third edition with the goal of promoting the huge potential of the seas and oceans as a source of sustainable economic growth.
Organized with the support of the Barcelona City Council, Port de Barcelona, World Ocean Council and Smart Ports Piers of the Future, the event will gather experts, companies, institutions and community leaders to showcase innovative solutions, programs and best practices carried out in recent years with the aim of advancing an interdisciplinary approach in this field, including public-private collaboration.
Among the topics discussed feature climate change, finance, offshore energy, water management, biodiversity, green shipping, smart ports, and recreational boating.