From November 3 to 5, the world's largest smart city and innovation industry event - Smart City Expo World Congress 2026 - will take place in Barcelona, Spain. Riga at its stand, as well as participating in discussions and master classes, will introduce the congress visitors to the achievements of Riga in the development of a smart city and the possibilities to test technologies in the urban environment of Riga, as well as to use city data and infrastructure.
The main theme of this year’s congress is ‘Urban Solutions, Real Impact’, highlighting practical and scalable solutions that help improve the quality of life in cities and address the most pressing urban challenges.
This year, Riga participates in the European Pavilion of LDT CiTiVERSE EDIC, where public and private sector representatives will form a unified innovation ecosystem or European innovation platform. Visitors, investors and representatives of other cities around the world will be able to get acquainted with the latest solutions, observe demonstrations and practically see how innovations are transformed into real solutions, for example, how urban digital twins, CitiVerse technologies, artificial intelligence, data sets and other solutions can be used in practice.
Edgars Bergholcs, Chairman of the City Development Committee of Riga City Council, who will participate in the discussion on smart mobility solutions and challenges during the congress, emphasizes: "The world's leading technology companies will gather at the congress, and Riga will use this opportunity to attract companies and start-ups to test their innovative solutions in the urban environment within the framework of various pilot projects, as well as to create partnerships for the implementation of international projects. In the context of rapid technological development, it is important to get to know the experiences and good practices of other cities in the implementation of innovations and the development of smart urban environments, as well as to share their knowledge and experience.”
In order to strengthen cooperation with international organisations and technology companies, during three days Riga experts will participate in discussions and masterclasses, share their knowledge and experience, as well as demonstrate the capabilities of Riga's unified geospatial data portal GEO RĪGA in the "sandbox" or test environment.
The Congress will also showcase new innovative solutions developed by both start-ups and internationally recognised tech companies that can help address urban challenges in areas such as mobility, digital technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT), connectivity and 5G, security and resilience, smart energy, environmental technologies, health and well-being, and education.
Experts from Riga City Council City Development Department, Riga Digital Agency, Riga Energy Agency, Riga City Council Police and Riga City Council Central Administration will represent and share their experience at the Riga Congress.
Information prepared by: Information prepared by: Tatjana Smirnova, Project Coordinator, External Communication Division of Riga City Council, e-mail: tsmirnova11@riga.lv.