This year’s Smart City Forum is the 16th edition of the event and the second one in Wroclaw. It is the most important congress in Poland devoted to the functioning and development of smart cities. The Smart City Forum started on Wednesday 31st May in the Bridge Wrocław MGallery – a hotel located in the historical Ostrów Tumski island – and will last until 1st June.
The congress was opened with the inaugural debate of mayors of Lublin, Słupsk, Sopot, Kielce and Wroclaw. The mayors discussed, among others, the economic situation from the perspective of local governments, the economy of sharing, the prevention of debt and regional inequality and the development of the smart city strategy in their cities.
'Inhabitants have been, are and will be the most important pillar of all smart projects of our Smart Wroclaw. It is the people who create the living Smart Wroclaw, where technological smart projects can and should be initiated,’ said Jacek Sutryk, Mayor of Wroclaw.
Another important part of the first day of Smart City Forum was a speech delivered by Vadym Boichenko, Mayor of Mariupol, who shared his plans to restore Ukrainian cities destroyed by the Russian invasion. He also talked about related technological innovations and smart challenges facing Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities at the moment. Similar issues were brought up during the debate ‘Open Data: Fuel for the development of smart cities’, where one of the speakers was Oleg Polovynko, the Chief Information Officer of Kyiv.
The first day of the 16th Smart City Forum was concluded by the Grand Gala in the Bridge Wroclaw MGallery.
‘During the gala, awards are granted – we sincerely congratulate all the winners. Smart City Forum is a great opportunity to meet and exchange experiences and good practices between local governments and the business environment,’ said Jakub Mazur, Deputy Mayor of Wroclaw.
During the gala evening, the Jury of the Smart City Awards Competition awarded the persons and projects that have largely contributed to the promotion of solutions supporting the development of smart cities in Poland, as well as cities implementing this idea. The awards were granted to representatives of the business sector and local administration who contributed to the increase of competitiveness of Polish cities, economy and business through projects using innovative solutions and management strategies.
Mayor of Lublin with the Man of the Year title
The most important award of that evening was the Man of the Year statuette. It went to the Mayor of Lublin Krzysztof Żuk, whom the jury appreciated for his long-year efforts aimed at the dynamic development of the city, brave decisions and innovative approach to management, which turned Lublin into a friendly place fully reflecting the idea of sustainable growth.
‘Thanks to our intense work, Lublin is a recognisable brand and one of the fastest-developing places in Poland today. It is an open city good to live in. For the last several years, we have caught up and carried out together the biggest investments in the history of Lublin for more than 5 billion PLN. In all of our activities, we try to engage the inhabitants, with whom we are building the Lublin of the future and who are recipients of our actions. There are still lots of challenges ahead of us, so I treat this award as an obligation for the future,’ said Krzysztof Żuk, Mayor of Lublin.
A piece of a Kyiv bridge for the Mayor of Wroclaw
The Mayor of Wroclaw Jacek Sutryk received an award for the city’s support for Ukraine and for the partnership of cities. It was a fragment of a Kyiv bridge.
‘We help as much as we can. Every fourth inhabitant of Wroclaw comes from Ukraine. Kyiv is our partner city. How could we act differently?’ asked Jacek Sutryk.
