Barcelona, Spain, October 8th / PRNewswire / -- The globally leading international event on cities and urban innovation, Smart City Expo World Congress ( SCEWC ), organized by the Barcelona Convention and Exhibition Bureau ( Fira de Barcelona ), will be held at the Gran Via venue from November 3rd to 5th. More than 600 speakers will gather for this event, with the theme of “Urban Solutions, Real Impact”. This year's conference will be co-hosted with Tomorrow. Mobility World Congress, the newly added HOWS Barcelona – Housing World Summit, and Tomorrow. Blue Economy. Mayors and regional leaders from four continents will attend, elevating this event to a true international city summit.

The political significance of the 2026 conference is embodied in Anne Hidalgo ( Anne Hidalgo ). She has served as the mayor of Paris and is also the Global Ambassador for Climate and Energy of the Global Mayors Alliance. She governed the French capital for over a decade and has become one of the most influential municipal voices in global climate debates. She will be on stage with mayors and regional leaders from around the world, including Andre Dickins ( Andre Dickens ) of Atlanta, Harris Koukouas ( Haris Doukas ) of Athens, Giuseppe Sala ( Giuseppe Sala ) of Milan, Gergely Karácsoni ( Gergely Kar to csony ) of Budapest, Daryl Byrne ( Daryl Barron ) of Dublin, and Ivona Akji-Soyer ( Yvonne Aki to Sawyer ) of Freetown.

Housing is one of the core topics of this year's conference. The event HOWS Barcelona, hosted by the Barcelona City Council, will further enhance the institutional significance of this topic and will also organize Housing Mayors Meeting and Roundtable as platforms for political dialogue and cooperation.

The keynote speech at the conference will be delivered by Futurist.com, Chief Futurist Nicholas Badington ( Nikolas Badminton ). He is an expert in artificial intelligence who helps companies and institutions build strategic foresight. In addition, Women in Tech Global founder Amy Moore Aoki ( Ayumi Moore Aoki ) will also attend the conference to share her views on how diversity and inclusivity can drive urban innovation.

Industry and International Leadership

The lineup of corporate and institutional guests also includes: Kees Hertogh, Vice President of Global Industry Marketing at Microsoft; Rochelle Haynes, Managing Director of What Works Cities under Bloomberg Philanthropies; this initiative helps local governments use data and evidence to improve public services; Nam Guan Ng, General Manager of Dell's Global Smart Cities Business and Head of Global Smart Cities; Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU); as well as John Li, General Manager of Dahua Technology's Global Government Business Department.

SCEWC In 2026, it is expected to attract 27,000 participants and over 1,100 exhibitors, including Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Dell Technologies, and Veolia.

Source: Barcelona Convention and Exhibition Bureau ( Fira de Barcelona )