On 15 and 16 November 2022, the Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) will meet for the ICC Conference and Mayors Forum at the Smart City Expo in Barcelona, Spain. This event will mark the first in person meeting in the ICC history since its beginning in 2020 and looks forward to bringing the cities together face to face.
Anna Athanasopoulou Head of Unit for Proximity, Social Economy and Creative Industries at the Directorate-General for Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMES of the European Commission, said “Europe has entered an age of ‘permacrisis’ taking the shape of pressing challenges: climate change, the COVID pandemic, rising inflation, energy crisis, disrupted supply chains and a volatile geopolitical context. Increased efforts are needed to strengthen the resilience of our economy and our societies. European cities, together with their local businesses, are strongly feeling the impact, but they are also at the forefront of efforts to build resilience on the ground and close to the communities. The Intelligent Cities Challenge will maximize their role as brokers of the green and digital transitions, taping on the commitment and active mobilization of industry, local SMEs and social economy actors”.
“The ICC project management team is thrilled to be able to bring together participating mayors, project managers and business representatives from ICC cities (from Europe and beyond) and lead experts to celebrate achievements, take stock of the progress made and prepare for the next phase of ICC. With COVID-19 in mind, we are looking forward seeing the full ICC community come together to exchange knowledge and discuss trends, to facilitate networking among the city teams and experts.” Morten Rasmussen, ICC Project Coordinator from Technopolis Group commented.
The event is split across two days.
Day 1 – 15 November - Mayors Forum
The Mayors Forum will unite high-level political representatives and city leaders from across Europe and beyond to reinforce political commitment on the cities’ twin transition and Local Green Deals. The Mayors Forum will offer the opportunity to exchange on visions, priorities and achievements, understand the main challenges and needs of cities, unpack the impact of recent crises on the transition. Ultimately the Forum seeks to establish cities’ high level priorities and identify collective solutions and steps forward.
The Mayors Forum will take place during the afternoon of 15 November. It will be based on an interactive format, with an in-person panel with 4-5 Mayors and two roundtable workshops with groups of 6-8 Mayors to discuss Local Green Deals and streamlining support.
Participating Mayors are invited to attend a dinner in the evening offered by the Barcelona City Hall with the presence of Ada Colau, Barcelona Mayor, and other Mayors and city leaders attending the Smart City Expo.
For more information, you can find the Day 1 draft agenda here.
Day 2 – 16 November – ICC Conference
The ICC Conference will welcome city and business representatives from ICC core and mentor cities and lead experts. This full day programme combines plenary sessions, keynote speeches and opportunities for networking. ICC city leaders, chief executives of businesses, policy think tanks, academics, urban development agencies, lead experts, technology leaders, EU and international mentors will attend.
The overarching focus of the ICC Conference is on the transition towards a green, digital and resilient economy. Through bringing together participating ICC cities and experts, the conference aims to take stock of the progress made during the ICC initiative, showcase achievements and towards the green and digital transition and reassess priorities ahead in the light of the big urban challenges.
For more information, you can find the Day 2 draft agenda here.
Registration
The ICC Conference and Mayors Summit are only open for participating ICC cities who should register here. The Smart City Expo is open to the public who can register here.
For each day of the event, different invitees are asked to join from the participating ICC cities - an overview is available below. Any questions can be sent via email to the Intelligent Cities Helpdesk (helpdesk_icc@technopolis-group.com).
