Officials from 11 member cities complete training program in Seoul

March 29, 2019

SEOUL – A delegation of 15 officials from 11 WeGO member cities have completed a training program carried out by WeGO in Seoul.

Co-organized annually with Seoul Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC), the WeGO Smart Sustainable Cities Training Program in Seoul is a week-long program where participants are immersed in the advancements and trends of smart city development in one of the largest cities in Asia. Seoul’s experience in the field is shared through lectures and visits to smart facilities.

Over the course of the program, representatives from local government, the private sector, and academia presented on ways cities can become smart and sustainable. Sessions this year focused on financing and master plan design, as well as emerging smart city technologies. In a series of modules, participants were also introduced to both national and local government smart city policies instituted by Korea and Seoul.

This year’s study visits took participants to key locations such as the Seoul Transport Operation and Information System (TOPIS), where public transportation is monitored in real-time; Seoul Big Data Campus, where big data is collected and used to create different public services for citizens; and Seoul Cyber Security Center, which deals with web vulnerability through big data.

Sessions were set aside for participants to deliver presentations on their own cities’ smart solutions and action plans for the application of insights acquired from the program. The delegation visited WeGO’s Secretariat, and had a special opportunity to take part in a smart city-themed symposium organized on the occasion of a royal visit from Belgium to Korea.

Each participant concluded their term of training at a closing ceremony at SHRDC, where they received certificates of completion.

WeGO continues to strengthen its relationship with its member cities through the participants, and plans to gather data on the progress of their action plan implementation in the coming months.