The Intelligent Islands Congress, which will be held in Magaluf on 20th and 21st April, was presented at the Consolat de la Mar
Monday 10th April 2017
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Calvià, Mallorca, world capital of intelligent islands with Smart Island World Congress
95 national and international speakers, 20 conferences and the participation of more than 120 islands from around the world will turn Mallorca from 20th to 21st April into the international focus of the smart islands. The first edition of the Smart Island World Congress comes to Calvià with the aim of deepening the opportunities and challenges of the islands in dealing with issues such as efficiency, urban planning and economic and social development.
The municipality of Calvià (Mallorca) will host the first edition of the Smart Island World Congress (SIWC), the first world congress of intelligent islands organised by Fira de Barcelona, the Calvià Town Hall and the Consell de Mallorca, with the support of the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands, World Bank and ONU-Hábitat. The event wants to be a meeting point between governments, cities and companies facing the challenge of finding new tools and services that respond to the needs and peculiarities of being an island, such as floating population, supply of products or energy, connectivity, seasonality, mobility or talent retention.
The programme of the congress will be based on four main axes: New connectivities, which will address the possibilities of ports and airports, the big data and intelligent electricity networks; Urban and Social Development, to discuss how new technologies can improve urban planning, mobility, education or health; Talent and Economic Growth in which experts will delve into the opportunities that can be offered by the knowledge industry, the promotion of startups or incubators; and Islands of the Future, which will discuss sustainability, climate change and the impact of tourism, amongst many other topics.
These axes will structure the more than 20 conferences, keynotes, plenary and parallel sessions, which will have 95 national and international experts who will discuss the immediate and future challenges of the islands. It is foreseen the attendance of 1,500 congress attendees and the participation of representatives from more than 120 islands around the globe.
Speakers and companies of recognised prestige
The meeting in Calvià will feature speakers such as José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, former president of the Government of Spain; Parag Khanna, geostrategist of emerging economies and best-selling author on geopolitics; Anote Tong, former president of the Kiribati archipelago, the most threatened country in the world due to the climate change effects; as well as Joan Clos, executive director of UN-Habitat.
The ministers for tourism of Cuba, Malta or the Dominican Republic; mayors of municipalities such as Malé (Maldives); non-profit organisations such as Costa Rica Limpia; or the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (Jamaica) and the African Union of Architects (Mauritius); as well as visitors and representatives of islands such as Bahrain, Bali, Corsica, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico or Trinidad and Tobago, will also participate in the congress.
The Mallorcan institutions will also have a notorious presence with the participation of the president of the government of the Balearic Islands, Francina Armengol; the president of the Consell de Mallorca, Miquel Ensenyat; and the mayor of Calvià, Alfonso Rodríguez Badal, who will welcome the congress attendees on Thursday 20th April.
The first Smart Island World Congress will also have a networking area where the representatives of island territories, speakers, companies and visitors will be able to develop professional relationships during the event thus opening up new future and business opportunities and encouraging public-private collaboration in the promotion of smart projects and initiatives for the islands. Amongst the companies confirmed there are technology companies such as Microsoft, Fiware and Grupo Etra, and from the tourism sector companies such as Meliá Hotels and Resorts.
Awards for the best initiatives
The Mallorca smart event will culminate on Thursday afternoon 20th April with a gala dinner and an awards ceremony, with the purpose of recognising and promoting the initiatives that island governments are implementing in their territories. There will be a total of six prizes for: the best intelligent island; the best architectonic and urbanistic project; the best smart destination; the most innovative initiative; the most sustainable development; and the most innovative cultural project.
SIWC arises from the demand of the island territories to position themselves as congress venues in the field of technology and innovation. The congress takes advantage of the internationally consolidated experience of Smart City Expo World Congress, an event organised by Fira de Barcelona since 2011 and consolidated as the world leader in the smart cities sector.