WeGO Participates in African Events Ahead of AFSCN Launch
June 9, 2021
SEOUL – Ahead of the launch of WeGO’s newest initiative–the Africa Smart City Network (AFSCN)— scheduled for June 29, WeGO took part in two African events to better get familiar with the question marks in the region, engage with key regional stakeholders and showcase its commitment to smart urban development in Africa.
On May 26, WeGO’s Secretary General Kyong-yul Lee spoke at the RISE Africa Festival, a three-day event organized by ICLEi Africa. In the session on ‘How our cities are pushing the boundaries of planning, governance, finance and technology’, SG Lee emphasized the importance of international inter-city collaboration and networking, to learn from one another in a reciprocal way as “[…] even advanced cities have a lot to learn from developing cities.”
WeGO’s Program Manager Eunbyul Elena Cho then took part in the Two-day Hybrid Seminar on Resilient Sustainable & Smart Cities, organized by UCLG Africa and the Kingdom of Morocco. She highlighted the work that WeGO is doing in helping its member cities to develop their smart city roadmaps through its yearly feasibility study program.
On the following day, WeGO also took part in the panel discussion on ‘Preparing for Sustainable and Smart Cities’, which sought to answer the question: what does a smart and sustainable city look like in the African context? The session was hosted by Prof. Mohammed Essaaidi of the Morocco Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Global Cities Alliance and featured 30 expert panelists.
As an open-ended network of cities and organizations, the AFSCN aims to provide opportunities for knowledge exchange and research on ‘good’ practice, mutual mentoring through WeGO’s extended network of experts within Africa and beyond, and support for project implementation.
The initiative, jointly spearheaded by the WeGO Africa Regional Office and with other key partners, will be launched on June 29 at the AFSCN Seminar. During this event, WeGO will formalize its partnership with the Smart Africa Alliance (SAA) and set the foundation for collaboration with other organizations working in Africa.
Click here to join the online AFSCN Seminar, and find the recordings of RISE Africa Festival 2021 here.