On 15th and 16th November, the second meeting between BOOST project partners took place in the city of Barcelona, Spain. The hosts of Cluster Digital de Catalunya represented by Joan Puate – Cluster Manager, Yeimy Ospina – Head of European and Innovation Projects, Nuria Serra Pérez – Head of European and Innovation Projects organized the meeting, a cultural walk around the city and access to the largest world expo for smart cities – Smart City Expo World Congress 2022.
On the first day, the partners discussed the current progress of the project tasks, progress updates and upcoming efforts, administrative and coordination updates and risk management updates. All participants of the meeting were able to meet Mr. Ramón Gras Alomà – Researcher at Harvard University and Co-Founder at Aretian Urban Analytics and Design, within the period of an hour during which he presented his research on “A new approach to the analysis and measurement of innovation”. The evening ended in a pleasant atmosphere in a local restaurant, where the hosts showed the partners how to eat tapas in Catalan style.
During the second day, the next tasks of the project for the coming 6 months were planned (The communication procedures and distribution of the results, the beta version of the site, the strategy for the presentation and publication of social media channels, and the communication plan for the upcoming 6 months were presented and discussed).
Special guest during the program on the second day was Tamas Szeker (Co-Founder at iScale Hub), who introduced us to his activities through a presentation about iScale Hub and expressed interest in a potential collaboration with BOOST.
All BOOST partners were invited by the hosts to take part in the leading international event for the smart city sector, a key meeting point for experts and leaders of the most innovative cities, companies, research centers and international organizations in the world – Smart City Expo World Congress 2022 ( Barcelona, November 15-17).
Access to an event of this magnitude was extremely important for the BOOST team because it presented an opportunity to get acquainted with globally recognized good examples of successful projects. Participants during the congress included over 24,000 professionals from more than 700 cities and over 400 international speakers who shared their vision of how to build a more sustainable and livable urban future.
The next edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress will be held in Korea in 2023.