Smart City Expo World Congress 2025

The Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) is the world's largest and most influential event on urban innovation, bringing together leaders from industry, governments, and organizations to move cities towards a better future.

This year's edition will take place in Barcelona from November 4 to 6, bringing together over 25,000 professional visitors from more than 130 countries, alongside more than 1,100 exhibitors and over 600 speakers, representing more than 850 cities.

As the leading international summit on smart cities and urban solutions, SCEWC2025 will once again be the meeting point for top national and international representatives, investors, and companies in the smart city ecosystem.

Through conferences, exhibitions, and networking activities, participants will share knowledge, build connections, and explore collaboration opportunities to improve urban quality of life through innovative initiatives that address the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Join us in Barcelona to discover innovative solutions and technologies aimed at making cities more sustainable, functional, and livable.

Catalonia at SCEWC 2025

At SCEWC 2025, find the Government of Catalonia's stand in Hall 3, Stand D-50, where it will be showcasing innovations from 20 Catalan companies. These companies come from the engineering, energy, data analytics, and security industries and showcase the expertise and range of Catalonia's urban innovation ecosystem.

Join the Catalonia Trade & Investment's events and activities organized under the framework of SCEWC 2025:

Open Innovation Challenge 

In the framework of the congress, Catalonia Trade & Investment is organizing the Open Innovation Challenge, a series of meetings where 29 Catalan and international companies present their technological challenges for Catalan startups, companies, or other corporations to propose the most innovative solutions.

During these sessions, public entities from countries such as Japan, Argentina, Turkey, France, and Italy, alongside Catalonia, will present their innovation procurement challenges and future smart city purchasing processes. This will enable participating companies and organizations to learn how to capitalize on these business opportunities.

Nearly 600 companies, approximately 30% of which are based in Catalonia, will participate, hosting around 300 meetings throughout the event.

Explore open innovation at the SCEWC 2025 through the Open Innovation Challenges and business meetings, whose goal is to connect companies and public entities seeking innovative solutions with technology providers.

If you are a technology provider or a startup, the Open Innovation Challenge at SCEWC 2025 allows you to present your urban solutions to major global corporations, institutions, and governments. Key organizations participating include Repsol, Ecoembes, Circontrol, Government of Catalonia, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona, City of Amsterdam, Roma Smart City Lab, Métropole du Grand Paris, and many more.

The Open Innovation Challenge will focus on a wide range of topics, such as energy efficiency, automation, improved mobility, robotics, electric vehicles, and new materials. By participating, you can discover these organizations' specific challenges and request meetings with them if your solution fits. This is a unique opportunity to position your technology or startup at the forefront of urban innovation.

Meetings with the corporations can be held physically at the SCEWC in Barcelona from November 4-6 or online during the designated dates in late October and early November.

Participation is free of charge. Register on the platform as a tech or solution provider by November 6, 2025.

In parallel, Catalonia Trade & Investment will also host an open session called “Cities Challenges”, where organizations participating in the Open Innovation Challenge will present their challenges to the broader audience of the congress.

Additionally, through its collaboration agreement with Japan’s Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), Catalonia Trade & Investment will facilitate the participation of Catalan startups in front of this Asian institution, enabling them to be selected for ATR’s global startup acceleration program, KGAP+.

Catalonia Trade & Investment will also welcome over 30 delegations of potential buyers from more than 15 countries, including Japan, South Africa, Italy, India, and Poland, interested in discovering Catalonia’s smart cities ecosystem and exploring collaboration opportunities with local companies and institutions.

Catalonia Urban Solutions: Tours and B2B Matchmaking

Catalonia Urban Solutions offers international companies and institutions the opportunity to make the most of the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) through a dedicated programme of matchmaking sessions and guided tours. The initiative aims to help participants discover market-ready urban solutions from Catalonia, establish new contacts and partnerships, and generate real business opportunities during and after the event.

Participants can explore Catalan solutions across different topics:

• Enabling Technologies
• Energy and Environment
• Mobility
• Governance and Economy
• Living and Inclusion
• Infrastructure and Building
• Blue Economy

By joining these activities, public administrations will have the chance to identify the most suitable solutions for their current and future projects, while international companies will be able to spot potential suppliers and partners from Catalonia. At the same time, Catalan solution providers will gain visibility and connect with international clients and partners to grow their business.

All meetings are arranged through our Catalonia Urban Solutions online platform.