WeGO Strengthens Strategic Engagement in the U.S. West Coast to Advance Human-Centric Smart Cities
[California, January 30th-February 3rd, 2026] — The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) concluded a strategic mission to California from 30 January to 3 February, reinforcing its engagement with leading U.S. cities and global innovation partners in the region.
The visit underscored WeGO’s growing interest in North America and its role as a global platform connecting cities, international institutions, and technology leaders to accelerate human-centric, sustainable smart city development.
In Los Angeles, the WeGO delegation, led by Program Director Eunbyul Elena Cho, met with representatives from the Mayor’s Office to explore next steps in collaboration.
Los Angeles, winner of the Seoul Smart City Prize 2023 for its “MyLA 311 Citizen Relationship Management System,” has demonstrated how digital platforms can enhance civic engagement and service delivery. Building on exchanges initiated during a previous visit last year, discussions focused on moving beyond recognition toward structured and continuous cooperation within the WeGO network.
In San Francisco, the delegation met with the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Urban Transformation, where both sides exchanged insights on advancing global urban agendas and explored alignment between the Seoul Smart City Prize and WEF’s global urban platforms. Discussions centered on connecting Prize-winning city projects with broader international visibility, potentially spotlighting leading urban case studies through WEF channels and collaborating to jointly identify projects in line with both organizations’ values.
The team also held discussions with representatives from the City of San Francisco, following up on conversations initiated last year.
As a founding WeGO member city since 2010, San Francisco holds a longstanding place within the organization’s history. The year 2026 also marks the 50th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between San Francisco and Seoul, WeGO’s President City, adding symbolic depth to the engagement. As one of the world’s leading innovation hubs, San Francisco offers significant potential for collaboration at the intersection of technology, governance, and sustainability.
In this context, meetings with city representatives focused on revitalizing participation in upcoming WeGO initiatives, including the 7th WeGO General Assembly and the Seoul Smart City Prize 2026.
The visit concluded at Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), a globally recognized institution advancing interdisciplinary AI research with a strong societal focus. The exchange emphasized shared principles: technological advancement must be aligned with human well-being, ethical governance, and inclusive growth. Discussions explored knowledge exchange in human-centered urban technology, potential collaboration through the Seoul Smart City Prize, and engagement through the WeGO Champions program.
This California mission marked a strategic step in expanding WeGO’s North American engagement and reinforcing its role as a bridge between cities, global institutions, and research leaders. By connecting municipal innovation with international platforms and human-centered technology ecosystems, WeGO continues to build pathways for cities to collaborate, learn, and scale solutions globally.
About WeGO
The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), is a membership-based international association of local governments, smart tech solution providers, and institutions committed to the transformation of cities into smart sustainable cities through facilitating public-private partnerships (PPP). WeGO was founded by 50 member cities in 2010 as the World e-Governments Organization, hence our acronym. In response to the evolving concept of smart cities, WeGO expanded its vision and mandate at the 4th General Assembly (2017) and its name to the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization. WeGO’s Secretariat is based in Seoul, Korea, and has regional offices in East Asia (Chengdu, China), Africa (Abuja, Nigeria), Middle East & North Africa (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), Latin America (Cuenca, Ecuador), and Central Asia (Almaty, Kazakhstan). As the leading platform on smart city development, WeGO’s mission is to share knowledge and good practices in e-Governance; strengthen administrative efficiency and transparency; advance digital capacity; facilitate civic involvement; bridge the digital divide and inequality; and promote cooperation solidarity among cities and local governments around the world.
WeGO serves for its members as their international platform to improve the quality of life, innovate in the delivery of public services, and strengthen regional competitiveness.
Press Contact:
Name: Junho Jeong
E-mail: j.jeong@we-gov.org
Phone: +82-70-4202-9169