Due to their population density and other factors, urban areas tend to be hot spots of COVID-19. But some cities also lead by example and show the world how to efficiently deal with the effects of the pandemic. 

The conversation “Digital Solutions by SMEs for Open & Agile Smart Cities”, live-streamed on Friday 24 April 12:30 CET on our Twitter and Facebook, brings together representatives from cities, non-profits, and digital SMEs to discuss best practices and challenges in this crisis. Davor Meersman is the CEO of Open & Agile Smart Cities, a non-profit, international smart city network that has the goal of creating and shaping the nascent global smart city data and services market. He will be conversing with Bart Rosseau, Chief Digital Officer of the City of Ghent, and Sebastiano Toffaletti, Secretary-General of DIGITAL SME. 

Where is the sweet spot in synergy between cities and innovative small businesses? What role do interoperability and open source software play in scalable technology solutions for urban administrations? Is there a reason to worry about hasty digitalisation leading to lock-ins to the software of big multinational enterprises, foregoing Europe’s smaller “digital enablers? These and more questions will be addressed in Friday’s digital talk.

Digital Solutions for OASCities Challenge

In addition, Davor and Sebastiano will present the “Digital Solutions for Open & Agile Smart Cities Challenge”, a joint initiative by DIGITAL SME and OASC to solve challenges by city administrations by connecting them to the network of European digital SMEs. You can find more info on the challenge here.

While the lockdown seems to have revived the formerly somewhat unpopular webinar-format, we aim to keep an interactive conversation between the three experts and the audience. Viewers are welcome to ask direct questions and raise issues of interest through the chat. The three conversation partners will meet virtually via the free AvecVous-tool by LINAGORA. This video conference tool, based on the fantastic Jitsy open-source software, runs through any modern browser–without the need for a plugin, and without collecting any personal information whatsoever. It’s the simplest and most private video conference tool we have ever seen, and we can recommend it warmly!

We look forward to seeing you on Friday 24 April at 12:30 CET on our Twitter and Facebook pages!