All thanks to the 9th Smart City Forum, which will be taking place on these dates at The Westin Warsaw Hotel. For years now, the congress has attracted the biggest authorities and outstanding experts of the smart city market in order to jointly discuss the implementation of new technologies in cities in the context of quality of life and the residents feeling of satisfaction.

Smart Citizen

Each of the city’s authorities wants to create a smart, modern city which will be a pioneer in the implementation of technologically advanced solutions. However, it is worth remembering not to forget about the residents in all of this. The 9th Smart City Forum will attempt to answer the question of how to make changes in line with citizens needs. Debates and presentations will discuss the subject of the resident and its role in creating the strategy of a modern city. Certainly there will be no lack of the topic of security. Digitization, digitalization and the introduction of artificial intelligence, in addition to many advantages, also brings some threats. Changes made to cities must be in harmony with the privacy and comfort of citizens. Looking at the multitude of Smart City solutions, one must also remember about functionality. It is necessary to integrate solutions so that the resident can intuitively, and with greater ease, use the opportunities that are available to them. While talking about the human aspect, the topic of public payments or management of paid parking zones cannot be missing. The solutions presented at the congress will deal with real problems that residents face every day.

Smart City for everyone

The fact that the vision of a smart city does not only concern large agglomerations has been known for some time. Towns which up to 20,000 residents have great potential to develop. Like small businesses, in combination with a large corporation - small cities are able to implement new solutions very quickly. They only need to know the trends and get to know ready-made projects that they will introduce in their surroundings. Fighting this is the 9th Smart City Forum. It is here that during two substantive days and live discussions, you can learn how cities operate under the supervision of local governments, what residents expect and what companies or startups have to offer. During the meeting, specialist discuss the most effective models for the implementation of specific investments. They also answer questions about sources of funding for the implementation of interesting ideas. This is a precise dose of knowledge that really brings cities closer to becoming a Smart City.

The autumn edition of the Smart City Forum turned out to be a great success. In the heavy period of local government elections, representatives of Polish cities talked about their achievements, plans and visions for development. “The Smart City Forum is a place where you can talk with other local government officials, you can get to know the perspective of entrepreneurs and companies and think together about what solutions we need to implement to improve the quality of life, so that we can all live better.” - said Bartosz Bartoszewicz, Deputy Mayor of the City of Gdynia responsible for quality of life.

The end of the first day of the Smart City Forum will be the Smart City Grand Gala. During the Gala, winners of the Smart City Competition will be awarded in the following categories:

• Personality of the Year
• Smart City to 100 thousand residents
• Smart City from 100 to 500 thousand residents
• Smart City above 500 thousand residents
• Smart City Solution

The Smart City Competition aims to popularise personalities and enterprises that have significantly factored to the promotion of solutions for the construction of smart cities in Poland and cities already implementing this idea. The awards are directed at both the representatives of the business sector and to local administration, who, through implemented projects, using innovative solutions and management strategies, contribute to the competitiveness of Polish cities, the economy and business.

The congress is realized as part of the activities of the MMC Poland Group which organises prestigious congresses, conferences, workshops and business training in Poland dedicated to specialists, managerial staff and company management.

All information about the Smart City Forum can be found on the official congress website: www.smartcityforum.pl and social media channels on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.