The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) is a membership-based international association of local governments, corporations, and institutions committed to transforming cities into smart sustainable cities.
Currently WeGO has 215 members, including 163 local governments, 35 corporations, and 16 other institutions. Members are distributed across the world, with a strong presence in Asia (76 members) and Africa (47 members).
WeGO’s president city is Seoul, supported by 6 vice-president cities. WeGO also has 5 regional offices in Chengdu (China), Ulyanovsk (Russia), Beyoğlu (Turkey), Mexico City (Mexico), and Abuja (Nigeria).
The organization is governed by an Executive Committee of 17 members, that meets annually, and a General Assembly of all members, that meets every 3 years.
“WeGO’s vision is to create cities that ensure enduring economic, social, and environmental sustainability by exploiting the power of digital technologies, engaging city leaders and communities, integrating across sectors and disciplines, and accessing investment for smart sustainable city development in order to improve the efficiency of urban operations and services, quality of life, and economic prosperity and services for city communities.”
PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES
WeGO aims to develop people-centred smart cities and promote digital ethics. Our commitment is to create smart sustainable cities through public-private partnerships (PPP) by adding a fourth “P” for “people”. WeGO’s definition of smart city emphasizes that a city’s ultimate goal should be to improve the quality of life of its citizens. In addition, our objectives are to:
• Promote and facilitate the transformation of cities into smart sustainable cities worldwide.
• Be a global platform that enables cities to enhance their digital capabilities and leverage their innovation potential for the purpose of developing transformative solutions for smart sustainable cities.
• Foster international exchange, cooperation, and learning among cities.
KEY PROJECTS
Knowledge sharing and networking events. This year WeGO is helping to organize the Seoul Leaders Forum (September) and the WeGO Executive Committee, hosted by Kampala (November). Next year, WeGO will participate in the launch of the Seoul Global City Awards at the 2023 edition of the Seoul Leaders Forum.
Research programmes. These include the WeGO ESG Smart City Index, currently in development.
Capacity building. This year WeGO successfully organized its youth programme, WeGO Smart City Champions, and is co-organizing several training programmes with some of its partners, including the National Information Society Agency (NIA), the Seoul Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC), and the regional office in Chengdu.
Deployment of smart city actions. WeGO runs a range of activities that assist local governments to plan and deploy smart city projects. In September WeGO will host the next edition of its matchmaking webinar series “Solutions Meet Cities”, which helps cities to connect with solution providers in the field of smart transport.
The role of WeGO as a platform for global knowledge exchange is becoming more important as digitalization accelerates. We face more demands than ever to prepare and support cities all over the world to overcome the new challenges associated with digitalization. To respond, we are constantly expanding our existing programmes and creating new ones.
Secretary General: Jung-sook Park
Head of Program Department: Eunbyul Cho