Finding the Future of Smart Cities in Sejong

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] A gathering of world-renowned scholars and experts to discuss the future of smart cities will be held in Sejong.

Sejong City announced on the 27th that it will hold the "2021 Sejong Smart City International Forum" from the 27th to the 29th under the theme "Smart City, Sejong SEJONG Answers."

The forum will be attended by over 50 experts in the smart city field, including Professor Jeong Jae-seung of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Jason Schenker, the world's top futurist selected by Bloomberg, Fernando Villari?o, chairman of the European Living Lab Network, as well as officials from central government ministries, national research institutes, universities, international organizations, overseas cities, and domestic and foreign companies.

They will share Sejong’s smart city promotion achievements and best practices at the forum. The forum’s theme carries a dual meaning: that Sejong City answers questions about smart cities at the urban level, and that the core topics of smart cities are organized and discussed through six keywords (S·E·J·O·N·G).

For example, ‘S’ stands for intelligent smart city solutions to protect citizen life safety, ‘E’ for sustainable eco smart city creation plans, ‘J’ for an open innovation platform based on public-private cooperation, ‘O’ for citizen-customized smart cities in the hyper-connected era, ‘N’ for the future of cities changing due to COVID-19 in the new normal era, and ‘G’ for Sejong-type smart city global expansion strategies.

The keynote speech on the first day of the forum will be delivered by Professor Jeong Jae-seung, who is currently serving as the chief planner of the Sejong Smart City National Pilot City. Following the keynote, Sejong Mayor Lee Chun-hee will conduct an online dialogue under the theme "Post-COVID-19 Era, Sejong Smart City Response Strategy."

The detailed schedule by day is arranged as follows: keynote speech and S·E sessions on the 27th, J·O·N sessions on the 28th, and G session and closing ceremony on the 29th. Especially on the last day of the forum, the closing ceremony will include the proclamation of the "Sejong Smart City Declaration," which presents the vision and principles for the creation and operation of smart cities at the urban level to the international community.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the city will hold the forum non-face-to-face and will livestream the entire schedule online via YouTube and the forum website.

Mayor Lee Chun-hee of Sejong said, "A smart city means a city that uses advanced information and communication technology to enable citizens themselves to identify and solve urban problems," and added, "The city plans to hold the forum biennially to externally promote and share the achievements of smart city initiatives being pursued in Sejong."

Meanwhile, Sejong was designated as a smart regulatory innovation zone in September last year and is currently promoting various demonstration projects in the convergence and complex new technology fields. In particular, by obtaining the world’s first international certification as a leading smart city in November last year, it is evaluated as having raised its status as a global smart city.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.