Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the leading international event for cities will host on 2018 its eighth edition under the theme Cities To Live In. From November 13 to 15, Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue will gather over 400 speakers and thinkers from fields that range from technology and smart governance to sharing economy and mobility. Among the top speakers are Rufus Pollock, economist and founder of Open Knowledge International; Andrew Keen, economist and author of How to fix the Future and Cult of the Amateur; Víctor Pineda, social development scholar and disability rights advocate; and Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker and economist Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
This edition’s theme aims to underline the ultimate and common goal of making cities better places to live in. And the keynote speakers featured in the 2018 SCEWC exemplify this purpose. The first keynote is British economist Rufus Pollock, founder of Open Knowledge International and a recognized global expert on open data and open knowledge, he has worked with multiple governments and institutions such as the World Bank and the UN.
Andrew Keen will also take part in SCEWC. Keen is an entrepreneur and author and is considered among the world’s best-known contemporary analysts of digital business and culture. In 2015, he was named by GQ magazine in their list of the “100 Most Connected Men”.
The third keynote will be Víctor Pineda, president of World Enabled, an educational non-profit to promote the rights and dignity of disabled people and works to build Cities for All. Professor at University of California, Berkeley, has worked closely with cities and institutions like World Bank, United Nations, UNESCO or UNICEF.
The last keynote is Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Widely known as the banker to the poor, Professor established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. Rated number 2 in Foreign Policy magazine’s list of the ‘Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2008, Yunus also serves on the board of directors of the UN Foundation.
On its next edition SCEWC expects to gather over 700 cities worldwide, 700 exhibitors and more the 400 speakers and 20.000 attendees from 120 countries.
SOURCE Fira de Barcelona