The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 14th that they will hold the '2025 World Smart City Expo' at BEXCO in Busan from the 15th to the 17th of this month.
The World Smart City Expo, which started in 2017, marks its 9th annual event this year in the Asia-Pacific region, where governments, cities, corporations, experts, and citizens from around the world participate annually to seek solutions for sustainable cities and improved quality of life.
This year, the event will examine the changes that extensive technological innovations, including AI, will bring to urban services and our lives under the slogan 'Next City for All,' and will share a vision for cities that can include all people, including the socially disadvantaged, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained.
The opening ceremony will be held on the first day of the event, the 15th, with over 200 attendees, including key guests. Mohammad Ali Al Shorafa, Minister of the Department of Municipalities and Transport of Abu Dhabi, UAE, is expected to give a congratulatory speech. Paul Zikopoulos, vice president of skill development at IBM, will deliver the first keynote speech, presenting a blueprint for future cities centered on IBM's AI technology and urban problem-solving solutions, followed by the second keynote speech by Dennis Hong, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCLA, who will present an inclusive urban vision centered on the visually impaired driving project.
The exhibition will feature 277 domestic and international organizations showcasing cutting-edge technologies and services in the smart city sectors of mobility, buildings and infrastructure, energy and environment, safety and healthcare.
Busan Metropolitan City plans to actively promote its major achievements in the smart city sector, including the Eco Delta City development project, digital twin pilot project, and Osiria autonomous vehicles, centered around the vision of 'Green Smart City.'
To activate knowledge sharing and collaboration in the smart city sector, 35 conferences and ancillary events involving domestic and international academia, industry, and government will also be held. The 'WSCE Leaders Forum' will serve as the main conference for this year's event, with Park Hyung-jun, the mayor of Busan, and the mayors and deputy mayors of foreign cities such as Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand; Bacoor, Philippines; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia participating, as well as leaders from domestic and international corporations like LG Science Park, Hyundai Motor Group, Tonomus (involved in Saudi Arabia's NEOM City project), and investment company HiTi from the UAE.
Programs supporting corporations' businesses will also be operated, recruiting buyers from 23 countries and 60 companies, along with 30 domestic buyers, to facilitate 1:1 business consultations with domestic SMEs and startups.
Lee Sang-joo, director of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Land and City Division, noted, 'Extensive technological innovations represented by AI will be a significant turning point that redefines smart cities,' adding, 'I hope this event will be a meaningful opportunity to consider together the direction we need to take towards 'AI Cities' beyond existing smart cities.'
Jung Na-young, director of the Future Technology Strategy Division of Busan City, said, 'This expo is the first event in collaboration with Busan, providing a great opportunity to promote Busan, which has various smart city services, internationally,' and expressed that 'this event will serve as a turning point to expand Busan's role as a leading smart city.'