A WeGO delegation of 26 people participated at the premier global event for smart cities – the Smart City Expo World Congress 2015. The event was held in Barcelona, Spain from November 17 to 19, 2015 and allowed smart city movers to showcase their most innovative and efficient solutions in smart city development and network with urban leaders, experts, and decision-makers around the globe. The event recorded its best figures yet with over 14,288 attendees, 441 speakers, 465 exhibitors, and 399 journalists taking part in the activities. WeGO put up the WeGO Pavilion comprised of WeGO member cities Gimpo and Seongnam (Korea), Friendship Member, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) (Nigeria), as well as WeGO.
High-level delegates of the WeGO delegation had a chance to present their best practices in parallel sessions of the World Congress, where they focused on governance issues. At the parallel sessions, innovative and smart city thinkers gathered together to share knowledge and discuss pressing matters in smart city governance. For example, the Mayor of Seongnam, Mr. Jae-myeong Lee, illustrated the transformation of Seongnam City from a corrupt city into one of Korea’s wealthiest cities and being known as the country’s “Silicon Valley”, while Seoul’s CIO, Mr. Younghoon Choi, presented Seoul Metropolitan Government’s smart city initiatives. Mr. Bernard Ewah, Head of e-Government of NITDA, successfully presented the agency’s achievements in Nigeria, which includes the establishment of the Lagos Smart City & Innovation Hub. Finally, Gimpo’s CIO, Ms. Gi-in Chae, presented on “Smartopia Gimpo”, the city’s key project in smart city innovation management, to the participants of the “Smart Up!” Session.
Apart from the main events, WeGO delegates took part in other activities, such as the World Smart Cities Awards Ceremony with WeGO members Seoul, Moscow, and Bandung as finalists; Brokerage Events; Cities CIO Club Annual Meeting; and other social events.
Click below to see more photos from the event!