News

Connected Places Catapult joins world leading smart cities alliance

A view of the historic buildings of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, with the modern skyscrapers of London's Canary Wharf in the background. People are scattered across the green grass.

We are excited to announce our membership of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance alongside the World Economic Forum and fifteen of the world’s leading city networks and technology governance organisations.

The Smart Cities Alliance aims to advance the responsible and ethical use of smart city technologies by coming together to agree common principles and standards, helping to build sustainable solutions centred on human needs.

Established in June 2019, the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance on Technology Governance unites municipal, regional and national governments, private-sector partners and city residents around a shared set of principles for the responsible and ethical use of smart city technologies. The World Economic Forum, the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation, serves as secretariat for the Alliance.

Currently, there is no global framework or set of rules in place for how sensor data collected in public spaces, such as by traffic cameras or Wi-Fi hotspots, is used. The Alliance establishes and advances global policy standards to help accelerate best practices, mitigate potential risks, and foster greater openness and public trust.

The CPC joins the alliance as an institutional partner alongside the likes of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Smart City Mission, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), Commonwealth Local Government Forum and Cities for All amongst others.

Nicola Yates, CEO of the CPC said:

“Our message has always been that one city is not a market. If we want a scalable, global market for Smart Cities, this can only happen when people come together to agree common ways of working, to build scalable, interoperable solutions centred around human needs. 

That’s why the UK invested in leading the establishment of the first set of smart city standards in 2014 and we are pleased to be joining Global Smart Cities Alliance partnering with the G20 and World Economic Forum to further this mission and the opportunities this can provide to stimulate growth and improve the lives of citizens around the world.”

You can find out more about the alliance here.

Our Global programme offers a full range of services for cities around the world who wish to be at the forefront of innovation and offers opportunities for businesses looking to reach new markets outside the UK.