On the 12th of May, from 14hto 18h (GMT+1) there will be a session dedicating to Living-in.EU at the European Regions for Smart Communities Summit. It will count with the participation of Commissioner Breton, high level Portuguese Government, representatives of the Committee of the Regions, European Commission’s Eddy Hartog, amongst others.

In times when cities and communities are looking to digital solutions to tackle a growing range of interconnected challenges, we must boost these efforts through a ‘European Way’ where digital solutions help to create places where people enjoy living and working. Digital solutions are broad and include approaches to smart urban mobility, energy efficiency, sustainable housing, digital public services, and civic-led governance. Large-scale uptake and upscale of these solutions are crucial to help our cities and communities meet their climate targets and reduce their environmental footprint, while fostering citizen participation and bringing prosperity to all types of business, including SMEs and start-ups. Through co-creation with citizens, we aim to bring the economic and social benefits of this transformation to all local communities and implement an inclusive digital Europe, with powerful digital services, technologies, infrastructures and skills.

This session is an opportunity for co-creation, dialog and strategic alignment between signatories, European institutions and networks and experts focused on the regional digital transformation.

Agenda:

 14:00 - 14:20

• Welcome address
• António Ceia da Silva – President of Alentejo [PT/EN]
• Carmen Carvalheira – Vice-president of Alentejo (CCDRA)
• Carlos Miguel – Ministry of Territorial Cohesion Secretary of State, Portuguese Government

 14:20 - 14:35

• Key-note address
• Thierry Breton - European Commissioner for Internal Market [ video recorded]

 14:35 - 14:45

• Moderator’s address
• Eddy Hartog – European Commission, DG Connect Head of Unit

 14:45 - 14:55

• Invited address
• Francesco Frieri, Emilia-Romagna Government, General director, DT4Regions’ Coordinator [ video recorded]

 14:55 - 15:05

• Smart Villages – the nodes of new rurality
• Edina Ocsko, E40, President [ online]

 15:05 - 15:15

• Invited address
• Luís Silva, Porto Tech Hub

 15:15 - 15:25

• Invited addresses
• Martin Brynskov, Chair of Open & Agile Smart Cities

 15:25 - 15:35

• Invited address
• Luís Dias, Member of Committee of Regions, Climate and Energy Commission

 15:35 - 15:45

• Invited address
• Filomena Mendes, President of Regional Health and Care Administration

 15:45 - 15:55

• Key-note address
• Daniel Meltzian, Head of Unit H III 3 – European Spatial Development Policy; Territorial Cohesion, Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building [ video recorded]

 15:55 - 16:10

• Coffee break

 16:10 - 16:25

• Key-note speech
• Ana Abrunhosa, Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Portuguese Government

 16:25 - 16:50

• Regional leaders panel and dialog
• Moderator: Isabel Ferreira, Ministry of Territorial Cohesion Secretary of State, Portuguese Government
• Moderator: Eddy Hartog European Commission, DG Connect Head of Unit
• Moderator: Sebastiano Toffaletti, EU Digital SME Alliance Secretary- General
• Moderator: Marcos Nogueira, H2020-AURORAL Coordinator
• Panel members (invited, Living-in.EU signatory regions)
• Kirsten Rowedder, State of Hessen, Smart Region, Head of Unit [Online]
• Petri Räsänen, Tampere Region (Prikanmaa), Innovation, foresight and the twin transition, Head of regional policies [Online]
• Maria Galindo, Barcelona Regional Council, Regional Government of Catalonia, Director General for Innovation and Digital Economy [Online]
• Lieven Raes, Digital Flanders, Project coordinator [Online]
• Buyle Raf, Digital Flanders, Information Architect [Online]
• Juan Ignacio Torregrosa-López, Director General , Advance of the Digital Society. Regional Government of Valencia [ Online]
• Eero Venäläinen, Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Authority, EU and International Affairs director [Online]

 16:50 - 17:00

• Wrap-up
• Eddy Hartog – European Commission C, DG Connect HoU

 17:00 - 17:30

• SmarTomorrow European Interest Group
• Celine Sauer – H2020-AURORAL’s SmarTomorrow COO.
• Panel: invited audience, AURORAL pilot regions delegates and Smart Communities partners