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Barcelona Smart City Congress 2016 brought together over 16000 visitors, 591 exhibitors and 420 speakers to share knowledge, debate the challenges faced by our cities.
The 2016 edition of Smart City Expo World Congress had a special focus on citizens and the different initiatives being played out worldwide to empower people living in metropolises and make these places more human‑centered. Concepts such as commons strategy, circular economy and ethical use of big data will be key to foster citizen empowerment from different perspectives. The congress tackled them through a program structured in six topics: Governance, Economy, Society, Sustainability, Mobility and Data & Technology. The keynotes included Ellen MacArthur, Susan Etlinger, David Bollier and Parag Khanna.
The congress included a massive exhibition area showcasing a large numberof projects and the technologies affecting our urban society today.
Forum Virium Helsinki’s projects Smart Kalasatama and CreatFI / Creative Ring were showcased at the ENoLL (European Network of Living Labs) stand. Forum Virium Helsinki is one of the founders of ENoLL, a network founded in 2006, to promote user-driven methods and international co-operation between living labs around the world.
In addition to the booth, ENoLL ran a dedicated session entitled “Scaling-up social innovation through Living Labs” that was moderated by our President Tuija Hirvikoski (Laurea University of Applied Sciences) and energised by speakers like Artur Serra (i2CAT) and Wim De Kinderen (Brainport Eindhoven EU).
Barcelona Smart City Congress also marked the launch of the 5th wave of the Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC), an international network of smart cities. OASC is an initiative accelerating the adoption of common standards and principles for global smart city development. Founded only few years ago, the movement has already close to 100 cities involved. The City of Helsinki was among the first cities joining OASC, together with other cities of the Six City Strategy (Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu and Turku). Forum Virium Helsinki’s former CEO Jarmo Eskelinen was one of the key people launching the network.
Smart City Expo World Congress 2016 figures:
+ 16,688 Visitors
591 Exhibitors
+ 600 Cities
+ 420 Speakers
+ 50 Side events and activities
Picture: Smart City Expo http://www.smartcityexpo.com