You may not know this (I didn’t either), but Fira de Barcelona is one of the most important trade fair institutions in Spain. It hosts over 50 events during the year – including Mobile World Congress and the Sonar Festival.

Below is an infographic of some of the important events coming up at Fira de Barcelona over the next 18 months – but feel free to comment or suggest other congresses or conferences that I might have missed. Or just share it as is! :)

Fira de Barcelona upcoming events

But one of the first up (in fact starting next week!) is the Smart City Expo World Congress. An event that deserves comment in its own right!

Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC)

Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) will run from November 15th to 17th 2016 at the Gran Via venue.

Smart City Expo poster

Primarily, Smart City Expo will be the place to go for a thoughtful and deep discussion about the “relation between technological revolution”.

But what does this mean? Well, if you take a look at the 3-day agenda below you can spot 4 main topics.

Sustainability

One of the main reasons to even start thinking about smart cities, sustainable urban development has always been a challenge for cities and politics.

How do we expand our cities, while keeping them an environmentally safe place for the citizens?

SCEWC will try to answer this crucial question.

Big Data

It’s official: big data has invaded our lives. It’s used in marketing campaigns, e-commerce sites, banking strategies… and smart cities.

Urban services or law enforcement bodies benefit hugely from big data advances.

Public Transport

Another key of smart cities… mobility. Taking into account the large number of people that commute to work, public transport has to be a central piece of SCEWC.

From city-cycling initiatives to multi-modal transport services: the latest trends on public transportation will gather at SCEWC.

Cybersecurity

Finally, we do live in the era of security. More specifically, cybersecurity.

Globalisation has changed the mindset of an entire generation – and achieving a happy medium between security and privacy has proven to be a big challenge.

The Full Agenda

Governance, technology, energy, infrastructure and many other topics will be discussed during this 3-days international event.

Check out the full agenda below or go to the SCEWC website for further information. There is definitely something for eveyone! (And yes I did copy and paste it.)

• Cities for Citizens, Citizens Changing Cities
• Improving Governance Models for Steering Urban Development
• Proactive City Data Governance
• Fostering the Health and Well-Being of our Cities and Citizens
• Holistic Approaches to Urban Development and Resilience
• Addressing Urban Growth Through City Planning
• Walkable and Cyclable Cities
• Real-Time Open Data Fuelling the Next Generation of Urban Services
• Kent Larson – Towards Entrepreneurial, High-performance, Livable Cities
• Urban Innovation Areas Underpinning Economic Growth
• Disruptive Technologies Transforming Cities
• Implementing the New Urban Agenda
• Financial Tools to Fund Smart Cities Initiatives
• Enhancing Civic Engagement in the Digital Age
• Cities at the Front of the Climate Change Battlefield
• Implementing Flexible And Multi-Modal Transport Services
• Big Data for More Responsive and Human Cities
• Entrenching Sustainability and Resilience Principles: Shaping the Future of Cities
• Cities Leading the World of Tomorrow
• Addressing Emerging Challenges of Sustainable Urban Development
• The Future of Urban Mobility
• David Harvey – David Harvey – Right to the City
• Ellen MacArthur – The Fundamental Role of Cities in Catalysing Transition Towards a Circular Economy
• Towards More Inclusive, Safe and Healthy Cities
• Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing Enabling Urban Development
• Business Ecosystems Enabling Innovation in Cities
• Housing and Open Public Spaces at the Core of Inclusive Cities
• Innovative Ideas to Move People Around Cities
• Translating IoT into Innovation and Better Services
• Benchmarking City Performance: Indicators, Metrics, Standards
• Harnessing the Potential of the Social & Sharing Economy
• Co-Cities Advancing Collaborative Urban Development
• Cities Moving Forward on Clean Energy
• Data & Technology Solutions (elevator pitch format)
• Strategies to Protect Critical Infrastructure and Ensure Digital Safety
• Cities at the forefront of refugee´s integration
• Collaborative Platforms for Digital Social Innovation and Sustainability
• Shared & On-Demand Mobility Services
• Public-Private-People Partnerships and New Forms of Collaboration
• Public Sector’s Open and Agile Services
• Scaling-Up Social Innovation Through Living Labs
• Innovative Energy Solutions for a Carbon-Constrained World
• ITS Managing Complex Mobility Networks
• Finding the Balance Between Privacy and Security
• Parag Khanna – Why We Need More Connected Cities
• Collaborative Partnerships to Achieve Common Urban Goals
• Smart City Expo Around the World
• Solutions to Measure City Performance and Achieve Collaborative Governance (elevator pitch format)
• Bridging the Urban Divide: Building Cities for All
• Technology in Resilient Recovery
• Open, Flexible, Scalable City Platforms
• Making Our Cities a Safer Place to Live
• Susan Etlinger – Artificial Intelligence in the Digital City
• Data for Urban and Social Transformation
• Rethinking Mobility Patterns to Build More Liveable Cities
• Creative Cities: Unlocking the Potential of Produsage and Co-Creation
• 4YFN How Are Startups Innovating Cities
• Solutions for More Inclusive and Participative Cities (elevator pitch format)
• Local and Regional Cooperation to Achieve a Balanced Territorial Development
• Unlocking the Potential of the Internet of People, Things and Services
• The Future of Artistic Communities in the Democratisation of Cities
• Solutions to Improve Urban Mobility and Achieve Sustainable Development (elevator pitch format)
• 4YFN Awards 2016 Smart City Edition – Final
• David Bollier – The City as a Commons