“We are looking for Catalan start-ups and we want to strengthen collaboration between Kyoto and Catalonia”
Dr. Hiroyuki Suzuki, Senior Vice President, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute, Kyoto
Smart City Expo Barcelona 2025: Global Cities Shaping the Future
13 Nov 2025
The Smart City Expo World Congress 2025 once again turned Barcelona into the global capital of urban innovation.
The Smart City Expo World Congress 2025 once again turned Barcelona into the global capital of urban innovation. Held from November 4-6 at Fira Barcelona Gran Via, this record-breaking edition gathered over 1,100 exhibitors and 27,000 attendees from 800 cities and 140 countries, under the theme “The Time for Cities.”
With topics ranging from artificial intelligence and digital twins to clean energy, urban mobility, and governance, the event reinforced Catalonia’s leadership as a hub for smart, sustainable, and people-centered innovation.
Catalonia Trade & Investment welcomes international delegations
“This world congress on Smart Cities is a great opportunity for looking at new solutions, sharing ideas and projects with other cities and regions,” said Raffaele Laudani, Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning at the Municipality of Bologna. “We are facing global challenges (climate, inequalities, and the AI revolution), and we come to Barcelona to find solutions.”
Bologna is currently developing an urban digital twin as a civic infrastructure in collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. “We are collaborating with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center because they are developing the European digital twin of the Earth,” said Raffaele Laudani. “This is a great opportunity to exchange knowledge and experiences.”
Strengthening innovation between Japan and Catalonia
For Dr. Hiroyuki Suzuki, Senior Vice President at Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), the Smart City Expo is also a bridge between ecosystems. “We have attended since 2017, and we are looking for Catalan start-ups,” he said. “We want to strengthen collaboration between Kyoto and Catalonia.”
The Japanese delegation’s presence follows the recent MOU signed between the Kyoto Prefecture and the Government of Catalonia, reinforcing a growing innovation corridor between the two regions.
India’s delegation also pointed to Catalonia’s innovation ecosystem as a reference. “We visited the transport systems, software companies and open innovation centers: all very encouraging,” said Dr. V. Veerappan, Chairman of the Electronics City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA). “The way the government supports technology and startups is something we want to replicate in India.”
Learning from Barcelona’s comprehensive smart city approach
From Germany, Alexander Skubowius, Head of Business and Employment Promotion at Region Hannover, underlined Barcelona’s global reputation in the smart city field. “Barcelona is known worldwide for being at the edge of smart city solutions,” he said.
He highlighted the range of initiatives showcased both at the event and across the city: “I was quite impressed by the quantity of different examples and pilot projects. You have a much more comprehensive approach to put together a lot of regional planning projects, science projects, and startup projects into this smart city context. This is where we can learn from.”
For Catalonia, the 2025 edition of the Smart City congress confirmed the region’s role as a global connector, linking public institutions, research, and entrepreneurship to design better cities for the future.
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