SCEWC draws 600 experts to drive real impact on key urban challenges
Nikolas Badminton and Ayumi Moore Aoki, headline the congress lineup of SCEWC 2026
Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC), the leading international event on cities and smart urban solutions organized by Fira de Barcelona, will gather some of the world’s most influential thinkers and innovators to discuss how to accelerate the transformation of cities through practical and scalable solutions. Under the theme “Urban Solutions, Real Impact”, the 2026 edition will be held on November 3-5 and will feature a comprehensive congress program with more than 600 speakers, including leading voices such as Nikolas Badminton and Ayumi Moore Aoki.
The congress program of SCEWC 2026 will bring together experts from across sectors to share knowledge and foster collaboration between public institutions, corporations and research communities. Structured around seven main tracks — Enabling Technologies, Energy & Environment, Mobility, Governance & Economy, Living & Inclusion, Infrastructure & Building, and Blue Economy — the event will provide a multidisciplinary perspective on urban transformation.
Among the highlighted speakers is Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist and Think Tank leader at Futurist.com, who will share his vision on the future of cities. An Artificial Intelligence expert, Badminton helps companies and institutions to establish strategic foresight capabilities, identify trends shaping our world, help anticipate unforeseen risks and prepare for complex and evolving environments through long-term thinking and scenario planning.
Ayumi Moore Aoki, founder of Women in Tech Global, will highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion as key drivers of innovation in the urban context. Her contributions focus on bridging the gender gap in technology and empowering talent worldwide, underscoring how inclusive leadership and digital transformation can support sustainable urban development at scale.
In addition to these first confirmed keynotes, the congress program will also include Bibiana Aido, Regional Director of UN Women for the Americas and the Caribbean; Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau; Chiara Corazza, President of the Women’s Economic Forum and member of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council; Karl-Filip Coenegrachts, Executive Director of Open & Agile Smart Cities; Carlo Battisti, President of Living Future Europe; and Elisabeth Maigler, Director for Central America at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.
Global Urban Innovation Hub
Smart City Expo World Congress 2026 will be jointly held with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, organized by Fira de Barcelona and EIT Urban Mobility and aimed at developing a new and sustainable urban mobility paradigm; Tomorrow.Blue Economy, aimed at using the full potential of ocean resources for a sustainable economic growth, the Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, an event organized by Barcelona Activa focused on scientific tech entrepreneurship and university spin-offs, and the Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress.
