The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) and Seoul Metropolitan Government launched the Seoul Smart City Prize. The prize is designed to promote an innovative yet inclusive smart city model that take care of disadvantaged groups in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution boosted by information and communication technologies.
Last year, 240 applications were received from all over the world and had 21 finalists from cities, corporations and institutions for their innovative and/or inclusive initiatives of smart cities. You can find the live stream of the Ceremony of the Year past, as well as the list of winners, on the official website here.
This year, WeGO, together with its president city, Seoul, will host the second Seoul Smart City Prize Ceremony during Seoul Smart LifeWeek (SLW), which will be held October 10-12 in Seoul, South Korea. The Seoul Smart Life Week will feature exhibitions, forums and the Seoul Smart Life Awards Ceremony. Seoul Smart City, which will showcase innovative technologies, policies and projects and human-centered policies and projects.
The objective of this POST is to make all interested parties aware of the Seoul Prize for which the link to access the application is attached here. The deadline to apply is July 14, 2024.
https://www.seoulsmartcityprize.com
https://www.seoulsmartcityprize.com/ceremony.html

OVERVIEW
The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), was founded by 50 member cities in 2010. It is an international association of cities and other local governments, smart technology solution providers, as well as national and regional institutions committed to transforming cities into sustainable and smart cities by facilitating public-private sector collaborations. WeGO has more than 200 members around the world and serves as an international platform to improve the quality of life, create innovations in the provision of public services and strengthen competitiveness regional.
VISION
Smart and Sustainable Cities for All.
Cities capable of achieving economic, social and environmental sustainability through:
- Leveraging digital technologies
- The interaction between leaders and communities
- The integration of sectors and disciplines
- Access to investments for the development of smart and sustainable cities
In order to improve the efficiency in the urban operation of services, quality of life, economic prosperity and services for their communities.
MISSION
WeGO seeks to promote and facilitate the global transformation of cities into smart and sustainable cities.
WeGO is a global platform for cities and their strategic partners to maximize their innovation potential, enhance their digital capabilities, promote digital ethics, and develop transformative solutions for smart and sustainable cities.
WeGO seeks to promote and enhance international exchanges and cooperation, project implementation, and learning between cities and their strategic partners.
WeGO’S PRIORITIES FOR 2024
HUMAN-CENTERED SMART CITIES
To build Human-Centered smart cities, inclusion has become one of the most important values in today’s smart city development. Technology, despite causing the digital divide, can still be the driving force in reducing the gap and ensuring an inclusive digitalization of public services that benefit all people in sectors ranging from mobility, safety, welfare, environment, culture, and governance. WeGO will work towards the creation of an agenda that promotes the global efforts in building inclusive and Human-Centered cities.
INTEGRATING ESG FRAMEWORK INTO SMART SUSTAINABLE CITIES DEVELOPMENT
ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) is the concurring new norm intertwined with corporations and smart city development, WeGO stands to be a part of the green transition in cities and people’s lives. WeGO will approach Smart City development by combining multiple aspects across the fields that access the social changes of the 4th Industrial Revolution, especially to transform cities into sustainable cities by investing in ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) aspects. Incorporating the dimensions of ESG, WeGO aims to promote ESG issues starting from business practices to socially profitable values that combine ICT with greater social inclusion and greater access to services of a city to meet the needs of governments, citizens, and businesses, prioritizing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria as a “socially responsible city.”
DECENTRALIZATION AND REGIONAL APPROACH
The pandemic has highlighted the importance of cities and local governments as Smart City transformation drivers. Recognizing the constraints in the national level approach, the role of cities and local governments as transformation drivers to stimulate city-specific development and activate citizen participation is paramount. WeGO believes a regional approach focusing on local context is crucial to build regional consensus in finding solutions to challenges that cities and local governments face in Smart City development.
INCREASE PARTNERSHIPS FOR MORE INNOVATIVE FINANCING AND TECH SOLUTIONS
In line with WeGO’s vision of “exploiting the power of digital technologies” and “accessing investment for smart sustainable cities development”, the organization will actively partner with tech and finance solution providers to provide more and improved programs and services to its members. With this new collaborative framework, the Secretariat will continue striving to engage with more public and private actors to expand on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
https://es.we-gov.org/sobre-nosotros-resumen

More information:
Download PDF of Seoul Smart City Prize