WeGO meets with Local Government Leaders to promote the Seoul Smart City Prize
TAIPEI & KAOHSIUNG – In convergence with the 2023 Smart City Summit and Expo (SCSE) celebrated this week, the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) had the opportunity to meet numerous local government leaders from around the world to discuss Smart Sustainable Development and promote the Seoul Smart City Prize, the 6th WeGO General Assembly, and other WeGO initiatives.
Alongside with the 2023 SCSE, the Secretary General successfully conducted bilateral meetings with local governments delegations from Lublin, Chiang Mai, Guarulhos, Budapest, Kaohsiung, and the City of Ryde.
After its recent trip to Geneva, WeGO continued its efforts to further expand its presence in Europe. Meetings with the Cities of Lublin and Budapest allowed WeGO to better understand the priorities and needs of European local governments, as well as learning from their achievements.
Budapest, one of the largest cities in the region, highlighted the importance of the work done by WeGO in connecting local governments to learn from each other’s experiences, as well as facilitating private-public partnerships for the development of Smart Cities. WeGO invited the city to visit Seoul in September and attend the 6th WeGO General Assembly, an event that creates an ideal space for the exchange of city government experiences.
The City of Lublin was also among the local government delegations that WeGO had the opportunity to meet with. This European city is well known for being an academic city, with strong ties with universities, a link that could certainly reinforce the WeGO Smart City Champions, WeGO’s flagship youth program. WeGO and the city exchanged ideas on cooperation, and the city representatives shared some of their areas of interest, which included electric buses and the development of hydrogen as a source of clean energy, and the importance of inclusiveness in their public policies. All of these areas show great potential for the Seoul Smart City Prize.
This new connection with European city leaders has indeed opened the door for potential new memberships in the region.
WeGO also had the opportunity to meet with city representatives from other two priority regions for the organization: ASEAN region and Latin America. Delegations from Chiang Mai and Guarulhos exchanged ideas on smart sustainable development and discussed the possibility of joining initiatives such as the Seoul Smart City Prize, and showed interest in the main events WeGO and Seoul are preparing in September (6th General Assembly, Mayors Forum and the Seoul Smart City Prize Ceremony). The cities were pleased to also hear about WeGO’s regional networks for their specific geographical regions (ASCN and LASCN respectively).
WeGO’s efforts in the development of smarter and more sustainable cities were also praised by representatives from the city of Kaohsiung, who in past years experienced first hand the work of the organization, while taking part in the 4th WeGO General Assembly which was held in Ulyanovsk Region in 2017. The city expressed interest in WeGO’s initiatives, including the Prize, and also opened the door to explore how to take part in WeGO’s network.
Representatives from the City of Ryde showed their interest in WeGO’s work and how to partner with the organization to lead smart city development in the region. Potential cooperation in several areas were discussed with the city, including membership, cooperation for the WeGO Smart City Champions, as well as the possibility of becoming a regional office and hosting one of WeGO’s governance activities in the coming years.
In conclusion, the WeGO Secretariat has successfully met with local government leaders from around the world and successfully conducted a number of bilateral meetings to further explore potential collaboration and to further promote the Seoul Smart City Prize.
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