In the complex and interconnected world of Smart Cities, smart contracts are emerging as a groundbreaking solution. These digital agreements, built upon blockchain technology, offer enhanced security, transparency, and trust, all while eliminating the need for intermediaries and excessive paperwork, and allowing the automation for various processes in the Smart City environment. Smart Contracts 101 Smart contracts are computer-coded agreements between parties that are stored in the blockchain, making them immutable and their transactions irreversible. Their main purpose is to automate the...

During the first half of September 2023, members of the UniWA group of SMACITE had a round of communications with the Greek Computer Society (GCS/ΕΠΥ) related to the skills and competences required in the context of Smart Cities education.  GCS is well known to play an important role in the promotion and dissemination of the principals of Computer Science and Engineering across all age groups and genders in Greece.   GCS is closely watching the evolution of the work carried out by the SMACITE team regarding, among others, the educational material being developed for Smart Engineers and Smart...

For those who like to combine sport and environmental protection, there is a new discipline that has already won over millions of people: plogging! This new green trend consists of picking up litter you find on your path while jogging or doing other outdoor sports activities.  The idea behind it is to optimize the time you normally use for training, to also do something positive for the space you live in, be it a metropolis or a village in the countryside or mountains. Participants take to the streets equipped with gloves and rubbish bags to pick up the rubbish they encounter during their fitness...

We’ve achieved our next millstone of SMACITE project by designing a kind of Diagnostic Tool. This powerful tool helps SMACITE learners pinpoint their training course requirements and informs a tailored learning path based on their prior knowledge, skills, and competencies. The Diagnostic Tool aims to achieve two primary objectives. Firstly, it increases awareness of the Smart Cities Technicians and Engineers profiles by providing detailed descriptions of training program contents and granting access to the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platform. Secondly, it suggests personalized learning...

The SMACITE project presented during the panel on "Innovation in university partnerships" at the XV Conference on Innovation in University Teaching organised by Universidad de Alcalá on 29th and 30th May 2023 Dr. Luis Fernández, from the team of Universidad de Alcalá, was invited to present details and results from the SMACITE project on ​Skills for Smart Cities professionals during the panel on "Innovation in university partnerships" of the XV Conference on Innovation in University Teaching (XV Encuentro de Innovación en Docencia Universitaria), highlighting the relevance of the analysis of...

Two teachers from Politeknika Txorierri, Koldo Garaigordobil and Jokin Gioiaga, pertaining to the course of Telecommunication and Computer System have been accompanied by technical staff from the company Nexmachina to visit the 5G laboratory of the National Reference Centre in Getafe (Madrid). There, they had the chance to learn first-hand about their cutting-edge technology with the aim of incorporating it into the centre's training offer. Taking the trip as an advantageous opportunity, they have also contacted the company Ayscom, a supplier of 5G equipment and fibre optic backbone networks,...

Recently, a study produced by Smart City Observatory as part of the IMD Word Competitiveness Center, extracted data and surveyed the citizens to rank which were the best cities to live. One of the most important points for the users were the City Smartness, which can help companies to grow, while for the citizens to keep connected. Only the perceptions of the residents of each city are considered, however, most of the measured points does not being considered the sustainability of the achievements of each city, as for example the availability of qualified personnel and talent to maintain, adapt...

Young people from Alba gathered at the first 'Sustainability Expo' on Saturday, April 22nd to discuss how to deal with the present and the future of the Earth. The event, organized by Wild Life Protection ETS, featured meetings and round tables with notable speakers on ecology and entrepreneurship. Several institutional representatives, including the Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, the President of the Piedmont Region and other local stakeholders, attended the event. The Expo served as the culmination of a broader effort that sought to include the opinions of the younger generations...

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023 says that 60% of workers will require additional training by 2027, with the biggest priority being analytical thinking. "We're in the early days of a real revolution in terms of how AI is affecting work and employment. The technology's growing exponentially, but our skills, our organizations and our institutions are not adapting nearly as quickly." Read the full interview of Erik Brynjolfsson, Professor at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centred AI at the World Economic Forum. SMACITE project is working towards addressing the skills gap...