From 14 to 16 of November the Smart City Expo World Congress 2017 will bring together over 400 global influencers and innovators to share knowledge, debate the challenges faced by our cities, encourage out of the box thinking and inspire a worldwide call for action in order to develop smarter and more sustainable cities. Tomás Díez, Fab City Research Lab Director at IAAC, and Mara Balestrini, Making Sense Project Leader will participate in the “Data & Tech” debate – “How disruptive technologies are re-shaping cities“.

The leading international event on Smart Cities was born in 2011 in Barcelona, the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), foresees the largest edition to date, with the participation of 700 cities from more than 120 countries  and more than 400 speakers. From 14 to 16 November, the Gran Vía de Fira de Barcelona exhibition centre expects to attract more than 17,000 visitors. With this year’s main theme, Empower Cities, Empower Citizens, the event will focus on strategies to empower metropolies and their citizens through active participation, critical reflection, awareness and access to and control over important decisions and resources.

SMARTCITY Expo World Congress

IAAC Sessions at Smart City Expo

Thursday 16th - Harnessing Data & Tech to Achieve Common Urban Goals (Mara Balestrini)

11:45 – 12:45

Fira Barcelona Gran Via, Hall 2, Congress Area – Auditorium

Availability of large urban data sets and the recent advancements in machine learning methods open new approaches to develop innovative solutions to solve complex city issues and meet development goals. Yet, these solutions need to be open, scalable, and capable of replication and adoption in a variety of specific urban environments. How can cities leverage big data and abstract it in ways that are useful for long range planning?

Thursday 16th - Digital Fabrication: Transforming Citizens from Consumers to Producers (Tomás Díez & Mara Balestrini)

14:10 – 15:10

Fira Barcelona Gran Via, Hall 2, Congress Area – Room 3

Thanks to 3D modelling and programming, communities such as Do It Yourself, Makers, Fabbers and Do-ers are taking fabrication into a whole new dimension, thus revolutionising the way in which technology is produced and innovations are shared. How can local governments create collaborative spaces where citizens with ideas can access production tools and where open work is encouraged so that they act as ‘prosumers’ rather than consumers?

Back to the list