Agreement with SMART CITY EXPO WORLD CONGRESS
We are really proud to announce that IPWCA has reached an agreement for collaborating with the leading Smart City Event worldwide: Smart City Expo World Congress.
The initial duration of the agreement is for the next 5 years and both parts agrees that this is an extraordinary opportunity to help Cities and its citizens to have more sustainable and resilient infrastructures.
Statement from Ugo Valenti
Managing Director of SCEWC:
“We are very proud to host for the second time in a row the IPWCA seminar at Smart City Expo World Congress. It is the best place to keep up to date with the latest projects and solutions on the field of pneumatic waste collection, to meet with experts and key decision makers, and to learn from new ideas and best practices from all over the world. If you are interested in waste collection, this seminar is an unmissable opportunity”.
Read the following interview to Paula Melich: SUSTAINABILITY LEAD AT SMART CITY EXPO WORLD CONGRESS
Paula Mèlich is the new head of Sustainability & Circular Economy for the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC). She is well acquainted with this organisation, having worked closely with the SCEWC team for about three years. Her brief includes coordinating this event with the added participation of the Brazilian public and private sector. Paula is also concurrently facilitating interchange of the best practices in the smart cities sector between the European and Brazilian cities within the framework of an international urban cooperation led by the European Union.
QUESTION: Firstly, congratulations! It is a delight to know that SCEWC celebrated its 6th consecutive edition, reaching record numbers with figures now reaching 16,688 Visitors, 591 Exhibitors, 600+ Cities and 420+ Speakers. This is a very positive and remarkable achievement and no doubt SCEWC is the Smart Cities leading global event; however, can we assume SCEWC is now a firmly established representative of the worldwide Smart City Sector.
ANSWER: For sure! Given the current trend in global population growth, concentrating more and more in cities and given the shortage of natural resources, urban areas must innovate in order to grow in a sustainable manner while prioritizing the well being of its citizens. This is now possible thanks to disruptive technology that is facilitating new opportunities for the “smart” city to provide solutions for its inhabitants in many areas such as sustainable mobility, energy efficiency, security and citizen participation. Smart City Expo World Congress is the result of intense dedication and collaboration with the different stakeholders of a growing sector.
QUESTION: In 2016 SCEWC, it has been realized that there is a change of paradigm, focusing not only on the cities and their innovations but now incorporating the participation of residents too. Can you elaborate on this evolving phenomenon?
ANSWER: The smart city concept is born out of the growing need for making cities more liveable and sustainable. Technology is a mean for reaching this goal. Citizens need to be considered as change agents and the solutions cities develop for its citizens must be with citizens’ participation. There is no smart city without the empowerment of its people. Through the claim of our upcoming edition, we want to send a clear message: “Empower Cities, Empower People”.
QUESTION: It is clear that good infrastructure plays a critical role in creating a model civilization.
In what way is pneumatic waste collection considered a part of this infrastructure?
ANSWER: Pneumatic Waste Collection will not be able to achieve all its potential without a holistic infrastructure model. Proof of this is that its basic technology was deployed decades ago, but it has only been recently that it has found a favourable technical and regulatory context for its implementation. Today the outlook is more encouraging considering all the benefits and possibilities arising from the use of IoT and big data. The challenge is precisely to encourage this favourable context creating synergies among all factors contributing to the development of sustainable cities.
QUESTION: The new generation of PWC 2.0’s provide some very important advantages that so far have not been generally emphasized with reference to Sustainability, Mitigation and Resilience.
Due to the many new benefits it offers, collaboration has been established between the IPWCA and entities such as a number of universities, C40, 100RC, etc., and it is obvious that the collaboration agreement recently signed between SCEWC and IPWCA for the next 5 years should be celebrated.
What do you think about it?
ANSWER: I believe all these agreements will be crucial for getting these values shared by city networks so that we can find common solutions to sustainability, climate change mitigation and city resilience challenges. From the SCEWC organization we give support to IPWCA in their efforts to spread the word about the advantages of pneumatic waste collection technologies.
QUESTION: Many cities participating at the SCEWC are also the same users of this technology, for example, Barcelona, New York, Copenhagen, Tampere, Dubai, Singapore, Seoul and so on. Drawing on your extensive experience, can you say with certainty if there is a good logical foundation for having a PWC Congress annually, as an official event of the SCEWC, to hear from and learn from those cities and maybe help others?
ANSWER: Considering that among the more than 650 cities that participate in SCEWC, many still find themselves at the development stage, there is no doubt that a yearly side event to SCEWC such as PWC Congress will greatly contribute to the exchange of experiences and business opportunities for companies and municipalities.
QUESTION: Have you anything special to mention about the next edition of our PWC Congress in SCEWC 2017?
ANSWER: I have no doubt that this year’s PWC Congress will be a success once again! Growing interaction with universities and research centers will be an additional advantage, making the PWC Congress the meeting point for all stakeholders in the sector.
Thanks a lot Paula, and see you in the next SCEWC 2017!!
