Algiers, capital city of Algeria
Algeria set to host Smart Cities Global Summit in June, By Andrew Okungbowa
Smart Cities Global Summit and Investment 2018 is slated to hold in Algiers, the capital of Algeria between June 27-28, with governments and industry leaders from across the global converging on the North Africa city to assess global and regional Smart City growth strategies with a special focus on Africa and Emerging Markets.
The event is under the patronage of Algeria President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, with Smart City Algiers as host in partnership with global events business TMT Finance. The event will feature a two Day Global Leadership Summit, Business Exhibition and Gala Dinner.
The Mayor of Algiers, Abdelkader Zoukh, said it is an honour and delight to host the global event, which is expected to draw attention to the city and expose its business opportunities to the people: “We are really honoured and delighted to be hosting such an important Smart City Global Summit in Algiers this June.
‘‘As well as giving us the opportunity to welcome other international government representatives, technology leaders, business executives and investors to our city, we aim to help stimulate new international partnerships, and knowledge exchange on sustainable City development and high tech investment.
‘‘Technology provides a fantastic opportunity to improve the lives of all our citizens through smart, connected investment into infrastructure and services. We are committed to harnessing that force to boost growth for our City and others across the region and globally.”
Holding at CIC Alger (Centre International de Conferences Alger), the gathering will feature over 4, 000 delegates, including international city Mayors, government ministers, smart city investment heads and Industry CEOs and CIOs from telecoms, tech, infrastructure, finance, energy, security and other sectors.
Government’s role in stimulating new technology and smart cities investment will be a key focus of the event, with eight key smart city investment themes featured over 50 sessions while separate dedicated streams will also focus on new technology investment opportunities. Specifically, two key themes will be highlighted, given their strategic importance to the success of Smart City projects in emerging markets: A startup and innovation ecosystem development stream and a Diaspora stream focused on reverse brain drain strategies as a way to fast track innovation and technology development.
The Smart City Algiers project will also be in focus at the event. According to the Strategic Technology Advisor, Smart City Algiers, Dr. Riad Hartani: “The “Algiers Smart City” project has focused on crafting a pragmatic execution strategy that blends in the best synergies in terms of tech startups enablement, industry and government partnerships, and the leverage of leapfrog technologies,” adding that “this is potentially seen as a template that could provide a baseline for cities in emerging markets in particular.”