SMACITE Conference
The SMACITE project is pleased to announce its upcoming conference, dedicated to the advancement of digital skills and smart city innovation. The conference will be held on Thursday May 8, 2025, 9:30 am local time at the University of West Attica Conference Center in Athens Campus, Leoforos Alexandras 196, Athens, 11521, Greece (google maps). This event will bring together leading experts, policymakers, and industry professionals to discuss key challenges and opportunities in developing a digitally skilled workforce for the cities of the future.
Organized by the University of West Attica in cooperation with the University of Patras and Universal Certification Solutions, the conference will explore the main results and insights from the SMACITE project and relevant projects in the domain of digital skills development and technologies for Smart Communicities and Cities.
A roundtable discussion will explore AI-driven governance, public-private collaborations, and digital talent development for smart cities.
This event represents a unique opportunity to engage with experts, exchange knowledge, and contribute to shaping the future of smart city development in Europe. Join us and be part of the conversation shaping the digital future of urban environments.
Registration to the Conference
The participation in the conference is free of charge, but a pre-registration is required.
To join the conference please register below till 30 April 2025.
Program
9:30-10:00 | Welcome Coffee | Participants arrival and registration |
10:00-10:10 | Official Addresses | Welcome by Host Institutions |
10:10-10:30 | Keynote speech | Senior Representative from the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance |
10:30-10:50 | Digital skills development in the EU | Paolo Zancanella, Project Adviser, EC European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) |
10:50-11:10 | Building the digital and horizontal skills for Smart Cities professionals: the SMACITE project | Maria Rigou, Associate Professor, University of Patras |
11:10-11:30 | Professional profiles and sources of talent for Smart Cities projects | Luis Fernandez Sanz, Full Professor, University of Alcala |
11:30-12:00 | Massive Open Online Courses and Virtual Worlds for Smart Cities professionals training: The experience from the SMACITE project | Vasileios Gkamas, Researcher, University of Patras and Polina Kontodiakou, Project Manager, Olympic Training and Consulting |
12:00-12:30 | Coffee Break |
12:30-12:45 | JustReDI: Resilience, Inclusion and Growth - Towards a Just Green and Digital Transition of Greek Regions | Ioannis Voyiatzis, Professor, University of West Attica |
12:45-13:00 | SMARCO: SMARt Communities Skills Development in Europe | Caterina Bortolaso, Project Manager, DIGITAL SME Alliance |
13:00-13:15 | Smart Cities for Everyone: Digital Twins, AI, and Assistive Technologies for Inclusive Innovation | Dr. Katerina Lamprakopoulou, Postdoc researcher & communication officer, ESDA LAB, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Peloponesse |
13:15-13:30 | Digital Twin on Smart Manufacturing | Annalisa Rizzo, Project Manager, Apro Formazione |
13:30-14:30 | Lunch break |
14:30-15:30 | Round Table: AI-Driven Governance, Public-Private Collaborations & Talent Development for Smart Cities |
15:30-16:00 | Closing Discussion | Maria Rigou, Associate Professor, University of Patras and Vasileios Gkamas, Researcher, Univesity of Patras |