Winner of the 1st Seoul Smart City Prize, the City of Sao Paulo selected as the beneficiary city of the Seoul Smart City International Cooperation Program
Seoul, June 12th, 2024 – The city of São Paulo, a proud member of WeGO in Latin America, has been chosen as the recipient of the 2024 Seoul Smart City International Cooperation Program. This program, one of the benefits provided to the winners of the Seoul Smart City Prize, serves as a platform for sustained engagement, offering the possibility to implement a smart city project based on their winning initiatives, advancing and expanding their original concept of the project.
This selection comes as a result of São Paulo’s distinction as one of the winners in the 1st Seoul Smart City Prize—a collaborative initiative by WeGO and its President City, Seoul Metropolitan Government, designed to spotlight and champion innovative projects with a strong tech and human-centric component.
Through this opportunity, São Paulo will receive support to conduct a pre-feasibility study, with a value of up to KRW 200,000,000 (approx. USD 150,000) allocated for this purpose.
The selected project, titled “Enhancing Accessibility in São Paulo: Upgrading the Accessible Service Network Map,” aims to upgrade the Accessible Service Network Map (ASNM) in São Paulo, providing crucial information to individuals with disabilities in the city. This involves analyzing, designing, and implementing an advanced service system and database, developing a pilot database system, and establishing a long-term implementation plan to ensure sustainable improvements and integration with existing infrastructure. The ultimate goal is to create a more reliable and user-friendly database of accessible facilities, thereby supporting better integration of disabled individuals into the city and enhancing their quality of life.
This initiative will enhance São Paulo’s profile as a smart city, which, in addition to being one of the prize winners, is also one of WeGO’s most active members and holds the position of WeGO Vice President City and EXCOM member.
In partnership with WeGO, this program will be led by the Seoul Urban Solutions Agency (SUSA), in coordination with the Municipal Secretariat of People with Disabilities of São Paulo City (SMPED). Drawing upon Seoul’s successful Smart Map (S-Map) initiative, the collaboration aims to address accessibility challenges for disabled populations in São Paulo by providing more accurate and comprehensive information about accessible public facilities.
The Seoul Smart City Prize is now in its second edition, with the call for projects open from April 1st to June 28th. Similar to the previous year, the finalists of the prize will enjoy various benefits, including an invitation to the Seoul Smart City Prize Ceremony, provision of an exhibition booth to showcase their successful smart city development cases, an invitation to participate in forums to present their awarded projects, and the opportunity to join the Seoul Smart Life Week programs.
Moreover, aside from the access to the Smart City International Cooperation Program, finalists of the Seoul Smart City Prize will have the chance to participate in a comprehensive four-week online and offline training program offered by the Seoul Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC), which includes a series of virtual live lectures and offline training sessions in Seoul, providing valuable insights and knowledge exchange opportunities.
As the application period for the 2nd edition of the Seoul Smart City Prize is currently ongoing, interested cities, corporations, and institutions can apply for the prize by visiting the following link: https://www.seoulsmartcityprize.com/
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