The number of people is steadily growing. By 2050 the world population is expected to reach nearly 10 billion people of which approximately 80% will be living in cities. This is a huge task for all governments and leaders worldwide. Already nowadays 60% of the energy consumed and 70% of waste and greenhouse gas emissions are produced by cities. Public transport, water supply, sanitation, energy, food and security are just some of the pressure points that needs to be managed by governments. It´s of utmost importance to tackle these challenges in a holistic way using existing know-how of project, programme and portfolio management. This will contribute towards making the vision of a smart city real and delivering real benefits to the people and society at large.

Since the Industrial Revolution in the 18^th Century in Europe, cities are growing bigger, faster, and more diverse. In future, the most significant growth of cities will happen in regions like Africa, Asia and Latin America. People move from rural areas to cities, in general hoping for better lifes (through jobs, housing and social security). On the other hand, people leave their rural areas because of natural disasters, unrest or military conflicts, hoping for a much safer life and peace. Migration is a global phenomenon, the first mega-cities in the world were New York and Tokyo with over 10 million inhabitants in 1970, nowadays mega-cities are steadily growing in countries like India (e.g. Delhi and Mumbai) and in China (e.g. Beijing and Shanghai) as well as in developing countries including but not limited to Nigeria, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil.

The “smartness” of a city can be described as an ability to bring together all resources, to effectively and seamlessly achieve agreed-upon goals and fulfil the purposes the city has set itself. It describes how well all different city systems, and the people, institutions, finances, facilities and infrastructures involved are working efficiently, acting in an integrated as well as coherent way, to enable potential synergies to be exploited and the city to function holistically facilitating innovation and growth.

As most of the activities in the context of smart cities are performed in form of projects and programmes, the IPMA Organisational Competence Baseline (IPMA OCB^®) could be used for guidance purposes. IPMA OCB defines the foundations of the concept of organisational competence in managing projects, its elements and their interactions. It explains what an organisation (for example a city government) can do to continuously improve its competence in managing projects and programmes. It provides city government leaders and consultants involved in developing project management capability with a standard from which to start their development activities.

IPMA invites experts from all over the world to attend its first Smart Cities Symposium on March 22nd, at Deutsche Telekom Representative Office Berlin. The symposium will allow for a maximum of experience exchange between participants, showcase examples  of smart cities and the respective concepts as well as demonstrate the important role of project, programme and portfolio management.

To register, send an e-mail to reinhard.wagner@ipma.world with all your contact details not later than March 8^th (The number of participants is limited to 50 people). The participation at IPMA´s Smart City Symposium is free of charge.

Deutsche Telekom´s Representative Office is at the heart of Berlin and allows you also to experience a Smart City live in action. More about the Smart City Berlin you could find on the internet and described in the Smart City Strategy Berlin.

Agenda of the Symposium

08:30 – 09:00    Arrival, registration and coffee

09:00 – 09:15    Opening and introduction to the symposium by Reinhard Wagner (IPMA) and Prof. Dr. Helmut Klausing (GPM)

09:15 – 09:45    Smart Cities – Making a vision real, Jens Mühlner (Deutsche Telekom)

09:45 – 10:15    The Korean approach to Smart Cities, Dr. Dae-yeon Cho (KALA)

10:15 – 10:45    The JingJinJi Programme, Prof. Yan Xue (PMRC China)

10:45 – 11:00    Coffee break

11:00 – 11:20    Smart Cities in India – Status and Trends, Dr. A. S. Pillai (PMA India)

11:20 – 11:40    Small & Medium-size Cities in Mexico, Raúl Arriaga (IPMA Mexico)

11:40 – 12:30    Panel discussion: How to make the vision of Smart Cities become real?

12:30 – 13:30    Lunch break

13:30 – 13:50    Projects, programmes, portfolios and their important role for realizing Smart Cities Dr. Jesus Martinez-Almela (IPMA President and Spain)

13:50 – 14:10    GPM´s Refugee Project: How project management contributes to mastering the challenges of migration, Ina Gamp (GPM)

14:10 – 14:30    The success-story of Panama City, José Reyes (Panama)

14:30 – 15:50    World Café on Smart Cities

15:50 – 16:10    Making Smart Cities sustainable, Dr. Joel Carboni (IPMA USA)

16:10 – 16:30    Rio de Janeiro Smart City Program, Dr. Raphael Albergarias (IPMA Brazil)

16:30 – 17:00    Conclusions and way forward, feedback and closing