Enhancing the goal for Smart Cities and sustainable energy in communities calls for a paradigm shift in the delivery of essential infrastructure development to accommodate social, economic and demographic trends. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there has been a growing opportunity for most countries to leapfrog the industrial age to that of an information age by deploying infrastructure, so to position communities for embracing new technologies and innovations.
However, advancing smart cities in most African communities comes with a growing need for community-driven and -centered development calls for countries to prepare and to replan new strategies that shall shape Africa to be ahead in the achievement of the sustainability agenda. Advancing the call for smart cities for most African countries will require a need to prepare communities so that they can overcome evident developmental gaps; e.g in terms of security, women empowerment, poverty and unemployment rates between urban and rural settlers.
Transformation into smart cities will require the deployment of sustainable infrastructures, that will add to the developmental agenda of making African countries to be economically, environmentally and technologically sustainable. At the center of enhancing smart cities to communities lies the need for deployment of clean energy access as a facilitator but equally important the need for smart cities calls for leaders from private, public, academia, civil and community to deploy initiatives, so that African communities can embrace and benefit from energy access, ICT and general smart infrastructure.
The EU Tech Chamber brings together experts from Africa and Europe to make use of lessons learnt and to develop key recommendations in order to help the Sub-Saharan region achieve SDG goal 7 as it relates to the objectives of goal 11. This will also seek to bring linkages that are necessary to prepare all the necessary stakeholders in strengthening regional partnerships and best practices of understanding how energy access can be an integral component in advancing smart cities with good examples of projects that have worked and not worked setting a basis for stronger and sustainable projects for all.
Are the existing policies and regulations feasible in driving communities to be smart cities? How do we get communities to be economically advantaged to strengthen their purchasing power of living and embracing smart cities? Are the technologies appealing to the general needs of what communities feel will best work for them without completely replacing their welfare and rights? Can the technologies embrace the bias that comes with accommodating sustainable planning, economic development and protection of natural resources? Key steps of initiating projects that scale and could attract flexibility in financial partners and market opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa. How do we create regional and global value chains that are possible in accommodating product development and nurturing markets for people to enhance their livelihoods?
Join our conversation during our EU Tech Chamber Digital Energy Investment Panel on Thursday April 01st, 2021 at 9:00 -10:30 am CET to explore best ways to realise smart cities on community level. The EU Tech Chairman Florian von Tucher and Director Energy Council Marcus Wiemann will also join this talk and give the introductions.
Register now:
www.eutec.org/digital-panel/energy-council/04-2021
DATE Thursday, April 1, 2021
TIME 09:00 a.m. – 10.30 am CET
LOCATION Zoom Webinar
