[Press Release] WeGO Establishes Strong Synergy with the International Institute for Management Development(IMD) for Smart Cities Index Partnership

GENEVA – In light of the WSIS Forum 2023, WeGO had the opportunity to meet with experts from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), to build synergies in developing the Smart City Index.

The meeting with the President of the Smart City Observatory at IMD, Mr. Bruno Lanvin, during the WSIS Forum marked an important moment for WeGO to continue talks on the progress of the Smart City Index as well as the next steps for the release of its Smart City Index Report in April, 2023. 

As becoming a leading organization in smart cities indices is a vision in the works for WeGO, its partnership with IMD is a pivotal one. IMD is a world-class Swiss institution with leading expertise in executive education and in  transformation of organizations. IMD’s World Competitiveness Center offers benchmarking services for measurement of global competitiveness. Within the center at the Smart City Observatory, the new publication of the smart city index will open the possibility for WeGO member cities and partners in assessing developmental stages and researching other model cities. 

The Smart City Observatory is directly connected with WeGO’s vision and top priorities to target a citizen-centric evaluation methodology. The index development will produce an analysis report to be utilized as a guideline for cities and stakeholders. WeGO member cities and partners will be provided a case report enabling cities to make evaluations for urban improvement. 

WeGO will play a critical role for IMD’s engagement of smart city stakeholders and experts. For visibility and usage of the Smart Cities Index, acting as an avenue for enhanced cooperation among cities is also a vital responsibility WeGO strives to serve through partnering with IMD. Additionally, WeGO has plans to host a Smart City Index forum with IMD to expand the dialogue in smart cities development.

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:  Jin Hwang
E-mail: jin.hwang@we-gov.org
Phone: 02-720-2931