| Held at KINTEX in Goyang from September 4th to 6th
| World Smart City Week Elevated to Expo
| Keynote by Urban Economist Richard Florida

The global smart city market is expected to continue growing steadily and reach $2 trillion by 2025. In Korea, continuous growth is expected to reach 151 trillion won by 2021.

Accordingly, World Smart City Week will be held for the third time this year and will be upgraded to the World Smart City Expo.

The '2019 World Smart City Expo (WSCE 2019)', hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and organized by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation, Korea Water Resources Corporation, and KINTEX, will be held at KINTEX in Goyang from the 4th to the 6th.

Under the theme of 'Smart City, Connecting Tomorrow', domestic and international city experts, companies, governments, international organizations, and citizens will share policies and technologies related to smart cities and discuss the vision and value of future cities through conferences, exhibitions, G2B, and B2B networking.

The opening ceremony on the 4th will be attended by approximately 400 foreign guests from 40 countries around the world, including the Prime Minister, an Uzbek minister, a Malaysian deputy minister, and the Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, UK. In particular, world-renowned urban economist Richard Florida, author of “Why Cities Are Unequal,” will be the keynote speaker and present new directions in which cities of the future should move forward.

An exhibition hall that showcases policies, technologies, and services for smart cities has also been set up on a scale of 20,000 m2. This year, a total of 250 domestic and foreign companies, including 39 companies from 17 countries, are participating.

The exhibition hall will feature a national model city hall introducing Korean-style smart cities, and 14 local governments (Sejong, Busan, Seoul, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, Gimhae, Siheung, Changwon, Suwon, Bucheon, Jeju, and Guro-gu), organizations and companies, major cities from leading overseas smart city countries (such as the UK, the Netherlands, and Singapore), and NGOs will also participate.

A total of 19 conferences, including the Global Joint City Conference, the ASEAN Smart City Network Forum, the Smart City Overseas Export Exchange Conference, and the Smart City Tech Conference, will also be held to share and discuss smart city-related policy and technology trends.

The 'Smart City Excellent Company Business Fair' will also hold an award ceremony for excellent companies targeting smart city SMEs and startups, an exhibition of excellent company theme halls, and an investment briefing (IR) for 1:1 consultations between startups and investors.

In addition, we will hold bilateral meetings between the Korean government and the governments of the UK, the Netherlands, and Malaysia, as well as a joint seminar with the World Bank.

Various experiential programs are also provided. First, a talk salon where citizens can freely exchange ideas about smart cities in a talk concert format is scheduled to be held at 5 PM on the 5th.

The talk salon will feature Anthony Townsend, a renowned expert in urbanization and digital technology, along with Jaeseung Jeong, MP (Master Planner) for Sejong Smart City National Demonstration City, and Dr. Dongseon Jang (Group Leader of the Future Mobility Development Team at Hyundai Future Innovation Technology Center).

At the 'Smart City Makerthon', approximately 50 development teams will compete to develop and produce smart city-related services over three days and one night under the theme of 'Smart City Services for Improving Urban Competitiveness and Quality of Life'.

In addition, works that achieved excellent results in the 'University Student Smart City Idea Contest' and the 'Smart City Children's Drawing Contest' will be awarded and exhibited at the event venue.

In addition, we plan to promote Korean smart cities by providing tours of domestic smart city new technology application sites and promotion centers for approximately 70 foreign guests from 23 countries visiting Korea to attend the event.

Officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport unanimously stated, “The 2019 World Smart City Expo is a global-scale event in which many countries from around the world participate to see Korea’s smart city technology and policies.” They added, “We hope that this event will provide a glimpse into the future of smart cities, and that it will be an opportunity for the public to become more familiar with smart cities as a platform and living lab that realizes the 4th Industrial Revolution.”

WSCE 2019 is open to everyone, and registration is available on-site. More information can be found on the official website .