Alyssa-Amor Gibbons, Micaela Mantegna, and Claire O’Neill at Smart City Expo 2023

The lineup of 600 speakers, designed to drive the debate on the future of cities, will feature architect Alyssa-Amor Gibbons, AI-specialised lawyer Micaela Mantegna, and sustainable development expert Claire O’Neill, former UK Minister for Energy & Clean Growth.

Held at the Fira de barcelona's Gran Via venue from November 7 – 9^th under the theme 'Welcome to the New Urban Era,' the event will bring together international experts to share insights on innovative solutions, projects, and strategies aimed at transforming current metropolises into more sustainable, efficient, and liveable spaces. SCEWC will structure its Congress program into eight tracks: Enabling Technologies, Energy & Environment, Mobility, Governance & Economy, Living & Inclusion, Infrastructure & Buildings, Safety & Security, and Blue Economy.

Dubbed an architeer, mix of Architect and Engineer, Alyssa-Amor Gibbons has green design at the core of her work. She has worked on projects throughout the Caribbean and the UK, spearheading net-zero building practices and virtual architectural modelling, and creating structures deeply linked to nature while also protecting people from aspects of it. Learning from traditional building methods in her native Barbados, Gibbons points to the brilliance and resilience of low-tech and endemic designs.

Micaela Mantegna is a lawyer specialised in video games policy, extended reality, and artificial intelligence ethics, and an activist of gaming as an instrument of social change. Known as the Abogamer, she is currently an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard where she researches on metaverse ethics and governance, generative artificial intelligence, creativity, and copyright.

Sustainable development has been at the core of Claire O'Neill’s work for years. Currently Co-Chair of the Advisory Board at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Claire served as the UK Minister for Energy & Clean Growth. She wrote and implemented the UK’s Clean Growth Strategy; formed the Green Finance Taskforce; and brought forward the ground-breaking legislation that committed the UK to be a Net Zero emissions economy by 2050.

Other confirmed speakers for 2023 are Anna Lisa Boni, Deputy Mayor of Ecological Transition and Climate Pact of Bologna (Italy); LaToya Cantrell, Mayor of New Orleans (USA); Jaanika Merilo, Special Advisor at the Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia: Lauren Sorkin, Executive Director of the Resilient Cities Network; Gesa Ziemer, Head of the CityScience Lab at HafenCity Universität Hamburg; Christina Yan Zhang, CEO of The Metaverse Institute; and Edlam Yemeru, Chief of Knowledge and Innovation at UN-Habitat.

Global hub of innovation

SCEWC will be jointly held with Tomorrow.Building, the new debate and exhibition forum that Fira de Barcelona is launching to support the transformation of the construction sector, Tomorrow.Mobility, the international event that promotes new models of sustainable mobility, and Tomorrow.BlueEconomy, focusing on the challenges and opportunities of coastal cities and the blue economy. All the events together strengthen the role of SCEWC and the city of Barcelona as a global hub of smart solutions that provides answers to the challenges that today’s cities are facing.