REMOURBAN at EIP SCC General Assembly in Sofia: Smart City Technology is Available, Tested and Ready for Investment
As a panel member of the session entitled 'Sustainable Districts and the Built Environment', Matthieu highlighted the solutions being implemented across REMOURBAN's districts to turn them into 'nearly zero' districts. The EIP SCC Marketplace General Assembly brings together a range of stakeholders from industry, government and research to share best practices, find new partners and help set the smart city agenda for the future. Drawing on the ongoing experience of the REMOURBAN lighthouse cities and followers, Matthieu said: "In recent years, the technology for bringing down our energy consumption and allowing us to act more resourcefully in our towns and cities has gone from strength to strength. Today, we have improved techniques, solutions that are reliable and ready for investment." The event also offered the opportunity to emphasise the many other solutions developed under EU-funded energy projects. The agenda featured an overview of the new post-2020 funding – Horizon Europe Work Programme – along with a series of workshops covering sustainable urban mobility, urban planning, citizen engagement and ICT platforms. Topics included multimodal traffic management, demand-driven first/last mile solutions, and the changing roles in business, regulation and governance. Attending the event was European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel (Digital Economy and Society) along with Matej Zakonjsek, head of cabinet Mobility and Transport at the European Commission. The European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete who was unable to attend the event recorded a video that was shown. For Matthieu, the involvement of high-level representatives from the EU and industry, "offered a great way to share ideas and concerns directly, and to put forward new topics to explore in the future. I have also noticed more and more banks are participating in these events, which is an encouraging sign for large-scale roll-out of smart city solutions."
Countries
Spain, Türkiye, United Kingdom