Beginning on November 9, the SmarterCities Forum, in Rio de Janeiro, was a unique event that brought together 550 leaders of business, academia and government from various cities across Latin America and the globe to discuss models to make cities smarter.
There were many reasons behind IBM’s decision to hold this forum in Rio. The city is currently undergoing major foundational transformations in preparation to host two mega-events in the coming years: the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the 2016 Olympic Games. As part of this preparation, Rio has invested in smarter technologies and improved infrastructure that will transform its systems and improve the lives of its citizens well into the future.
In addition, four of the 25 largest cities in the world are in Latin America, which, coupled with extremely rapid growth across the region, brings urgency to the need for investments in urban infrastructure to keep up with the local growth rate. For example, despite the financial crisis sweeping the world, the economy of Latin America and the Caribbean increased 5.9% in 2010 and is expected to grow 4.4% this year.
To address issues that are common to the entire region, the SmarterCities Rio forum brought forth best practices and pragmatic suggestions for making city systems smarter in critical areas such as security, transportation, energy and construction, among others.
Follow the coverage of the discussion sessions and panels divided among the following subjects:
- Session I: A Planet of SmarterCities
Session II: The SmarterCities Agenda—Seizing the Opportunities- Session III: The Smarter City — A System of Systems
- Session IV: Investing in the SmarterCities Innovation Ecosystem
- Session V: How to Build a Smarter City
The SmarterCities Leadership Series
The SmarterCities Leadership Series provided an in-depth look – across a variety of city sub-systems – at how urban leaders are modernizing their systems and infrastructures to spur economic development, drive innovation, transform for competitive advantage and meet the pressing demands of a more engaged and intelligent citizenry.
- Smarter Public Safety—Crime Prevention
- Smarter Public Safety—Emergency Management
- Smarter Transportation
- Smarter Energy
- Smarter Buildings
Extracted from: IBM Smarter Planet
