World's Largest Smart City International Organization 'WeGO' Holds Business Briefing and Smart City Champions Launch Ceremony

Simultaneous Online and Offline Event Inviting Global Members, Diplomatic Envoys in Korea, and University Students

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The World Smart City Organization (WeGO) announced on the 24th that it held the '2022 WeGO Project Briefing' and the 'WeGO Smart City Champions Launch Ceremony' both online and offline on the 23rd at the Seoul Global Center International Conference Room.

About 300 participants, including members from 210 WeGO cities, institutions, and companies worldwide, diplomatic envoys such as the ambassadors of Mexico, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, UAE, and Iran to Korea, as well as university students, attended the briefing and launch ceremony both online and offline.

WeGO planned the project briefing to introduce various new projects that help strengthen the smart city capabilities of young people, who are the main actors of the 4th Industrial Revolution era, in line with the rapidly changing social environment due to digital transformation caused by COVID-19, and to solve urban problems based on public-private cooperation to citizens and global members.

The event consisted of a welcome speech (video) by Mayor Oh Se-hoon, the WeGO Chairperson, ▲ opening remarks by Park Jung-sook, Secretary-General of WeGO ▲ congratulatory remarks by Bruno Figueroa, Ambassador of Mexico to Korea, and a keynote speech by Danil Curini, Director of the Swiss Edgeland Institute ▲ introduction of major projects in 2022 and Smart City Champions (launch ceremony) ▲ and an MOU signing ceremony with partner organizations.

The launch ceremony of ‘WeGO Smart City Champions,’ WeGO’s major youth project for 2022, was also held. This project aims to strengthen the capabilities of domestic and international youth to prepare for the changing industrial structure in the smart city field. Anyone under the age of 34 interested in smart cities can apply for participation through the WeGO website until the 2nd of next month.

Unlike the existing technology-centered smart city approach, WeGO plans to promote this year’s projects focusing on fostering citizen-centered smart cities in the post-COVID era by enhancing public-private cooperation and bridging the information gap. Mayor Oh, the Chairperson of WeGO, said, “To build an inclusive smart city where all generations enjoy the universal rights of the digital society without discrimination, Seoul City, as the WeGO Chair City, will make greater efforts to bridge the digital divide between cities.”

Park Jung-sook, Secretary-General of WeGO, said, “The role of the World Smart City Organization has become more important in the era of digital transformation accelerated by COVID-19. WeGO will share the advantages of citizen-centered digital administration with cities worldwide and develop agendas on digital ethics such as digital citizenship and data sovereignty to operate various programs to overcome digital polarization and its adverse effects.”

She added, “WeGO, an international organization in the form of a PPP (Public Private Partnership) composed of cities, companies, and institutions, will collaborate with experts and citizens (People) from companies with smart city solutions to promote various projects based on public-private-citizen partnership (PPPP) and play a pivotal role in the development of smart cities worldwide.”

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