City Card CeKR on the stage of Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona
For the third time, the City of Kranj (CoK) participated in the Smart City Expo World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, which brought together over 25,000 visitors from more than 850 cities, more than 1,100 exhibitors and around 600 speakers over three days. On one of the large stages, Tomaž Lanišek, Head of the Office for Development and Smart City in CoK, presented the city card CeKR, including how it can also contribute to reducing the city's carbon footprint.
Tomaž Lanišek took part in the debate Are we ready for tech-forward solutions? with six other speakers, including from Microsoft and the Arab state-owned company Aramco. The focus was on how advanced technologies have been used to create smarter, greener and more inclusive urban environments. "It's time to change the way we live now through innovation and collaboration to create better relationships with our planet and in our communities," said moderator Oriana Romano, from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), in her introduction to the debate.
Mr Lanišek stressed that Kranj is committed to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially in the areas of smart solutions, sustainable infrastructure and climate action. He said that Kranj has just recently been successful in the European call for proposals on Smart Cities and Communities (DS4SSCC), among many applicants only Portugal's Porto has been able to do so in a consortium with Amsterdam and Helsinki.
"Vision, collaboration and the pooling of expertise from different fields - this is why we have implemented several innovative projects in recent years, some new ones are just starting and some are being upgraded, including the CeKR city card system and the city's digital platform with the Smart Kranj app. We are putting citizens at the heart of development with our data collection and management systems. The CeKR, which allows easy payment and identification, will reward people for their sustainable behaviour and thus motivate them to lead a more sustainable lifestyle and change their habits. This will contribute to reducing the city's carbon footprint, in addition to the actions planned under the Mission for Climate neutral and Smart cities, and the anonymised and statistical data on the use of city services that will flow from the cards will help to better manage the city and, as a consequence, increase the quality of life."
Lanišek also stressed the importance of cooperation and knowledge sharing with other cities and foreign and domestic technology companies. Through such alliances, they aim to create a lasting platform for the exchange of good practices that can benefit everyone.
He was subsequently invited to a short roundtable organised by the European Commission, which summarised the main highlights of this year's Congress, in particular ideas, initiatives and projects. "A Congress like this is really valuable in many ways: it helps to assess how well your city is on the path to sustainable and smart development, it offers solutions on how to do even better, and it is a great opportunity to forge collaborations or partnerships. Kranj, although a relatively small city, is contributing to the progress of digitisation and sustainable urban development in the European Union through innovative projects."
Working towards better cities for all
On Wednesday, the internationally renowned World Smart City Awards for the most innovative city projects and strategies were also presented. The jury selected from 429 entries from 64 different countries. The award for the most successful smart city development went to Shenzen in China, while the finalists for innovation included Optifarm from Radovljica with its Local Food Hub Smart Delivery project. The congratulations from Kranj were presented live at the awards ceremony on the biggest stage of this year's congress.
This is the largest and most influential event on urban innovation in the world. For three days, it becomes the global hub for urban development, bringing together key people - city authorities, industry and decision-makers - and companies working to build better cities, with the latest innovations, best practice examples and ground-breaking solutions. The venue also hosts events on Tomorrow.Mobility, Tomorrow.Building and Tomorrow.Blue Economy, reinforcing an integrated approach to transforming cities.
According to the organisers, the world's population is expected to grow to ten billion by 2050, and 70% of these people will live in cities. "In 40 years, we will have built as many new cities as in all of human history. The future of humanity will undoubtedly be urban, which is why future-proof, people- and environment-centred digitisation is essential for urban development. At the intersection of technology and cities, there is an opportunity for a more sustainable and equitable world, where new business and collaboration models are emerging."
