[Press Release] Human-Centered Theme Captivates WeGO At 2023 Activities Kick-Off Event

SEOUL – Social gatherings are thriving as the pandemic subsides and in-person activities are now permissible without bounds. In accordance with the freeing of restrictions, WeGO’s Activities Kick-Off 2023 Event came at a timely manner held on February 21st at the Seoul Global Center for our members, partners and stakeholders. 

At this exclusive event, WeGO exhibited the key initiatives and vision for 2023 accentuating the significance of people-centeredness by incorporating ESG’s impact on smart city development. Following the presentation, a networking reception was organized where corporate, government, and academic participants had the opportunity to further exchange ideas or areas of expertise to combine efforts in potential partnerships. 

Notable guests made congratulatory remarks to kick off this year’s event by Jinman Kim Director General Bureau for Digital Policy Bureau, Seoul Metropolitan Government ,H.E. Maria Castillo Fernandez Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Korea, and Sungbin Yim, the Chairman of the Seoul Smart City Prize Organizing Committee. 

“It is undeniable that the fast digitalization we are experiencing is bringing numerous benefits to cities, but it also comes with new threats and challenges. Our role is to prepare the decision makers to adapt into this inevitable change, to create a global platform for knowledge and skills exchange dand cross collaboration. We are also determined to promote the importance of the concept of ESG for smart city development.” said Secretary General of WeGO, Jung Sook Park. 

“We hope that today you can learn more about the inclusive smart cities that WeGO pursues and explore various opportunities for cooperation among participants. As the President city, Seoul will do its best to support WeGO in leading the discourse and development of the global smart city field in 2023.” stated by Jin-man Kim, Director-General of the Digital Policy Bureau, Seoul Metropolitan Government.

One of the methods of taking ESG into action by the WeGO Secretariat is assessing smart city development via the perspectives of ESG. A research report on WeGO Smart Cities Index 2022 has been successfully published. The report analyzed smart city development by collecting data directly from WeGO Member Cities. The findings of the report enable WeGO Member Cities to understand the performance of their smart city development in terms of ESG and make it possible to benchmark the best practices among global cities.

As one of the main agendas on smart cities index progresses, WeGO partnered up with the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) for a human-centered smart cities index. IMD is a world-renowned institution at the forefront of transformation organizations located in Lausanne, Switzerland. With the people-centric index, WeGO member cities and partners can assess their development stages, benchmark their performance and study other cities. 

Accompanying the activities towards smart city development, the newly launching Seoul Smart City Prize was introduced. The Seoul Prize is an initiative established with the President City of WeGO, the Seoul Metropolitan Government to promote innovative and inclusive smart city models supporting the vulnerable groups in the digitalized era. The Seoul Prize aims to recognize and showcase the multitude of smart city projects and efforts to the world.

“In the face of common challenges, Seoul Smart City Prize is about sharing Seoul’s development story and aspiration for the future to make our city life better and smarter. It is indeed a Communication Tool that can and will turn our tacit understanding of what a smart city should be in light of Seoul’s experiences into explicit knowledge so that we may set up policy goals and tangible outcomes which we can all aim for together with the citizens of the world.” said Chairman.Yim.

Winners of the Prize will receive the accolade at the Seoul Smart City Prize Ceremony during the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum 2023 hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. They will also get the opportunity to be enrolled in a tailored capacity-building training program that is designed to enhance human-centered city development. The rewards continue and Seoul will provide a prospective feasibility study to be conducted according to the selected finalists’ needs. The study will include a pilot program, triangular cooperation, collaborative demonstration based on the developmental stages of the finalists’ projects. 

This September, the 6th WeGO General Assembly will take place where all the members and partners participate to shape key agendas and provide assistance in structuring the organization’s future direction. Leaders in the smart city community can get global exposure as the event attracts city representatives internationally. 

WeGO’s global network expansion is on top of the agenda as well and an open call for bidding in search of the host for regional offices in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Regional offices are a vital extension of WeGO that have the role to actively facilitate involvement with the responsibilities appointed and act as the representative to boost member participation and global presence. 

In support of WeGO, ambassadors and international representatives from the WeGO member network also participated in person strengthening present and future partnership.

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 7th 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), the Mediterranean (Beyoglu, Turkey), 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:  Kakim Danabayev
E-mail: kakim@we-gov.org
Phone: +82-70-4202-9169