Barcelona/Nairobi - 2 February 2022 - UN-Habitat invites cities and local governments to join and evaluate pitch sessions from public and private solution providers that build digital platforms for public engagement.

Cities will have the opportunity to work with UN-Habitat and partners to identify best practices, learn more about digital platform tools, network with solution providers and other cities, and understand how to evaluate and assess digital technologies that promote inclusion and are people centred.  

Digital platforms for public participation contribute to diversifying the ways in which cities can engage with the population and hold the potential to strengthen democratic processes. For this to happen, cities must understand what elements in a digital platform are relevant for people-centred and inclusive strategies, and how to evaluate such platforms while building additional capacity.

This challenge, as part of the People-Centred Smart Cities programme, provides a space for cities and local governments to learn more about these tools and platforms, and match city needs with the solutions that meet people-centred standards, such as transparency and inclusion. 

UN-Habitat’s flagship programme “People-Centred Smart Cities” acknowledges the tremendous positive impact of digital technologies on people’s lives, as an inclusive force for good, if implemented with a firm commitment to improving people’s lives and building city systems that truly serve their communities.

Cities around the world are welcome to join UN-Habitat in this research and crowdsourcing exercise. To ensure outputs of the project and solutions that attend to real-world needs, UN-Habitat works with a challenge-driven innovation approach to identify issues and challenges faced locally by cities related to digital inclusion, transparency, accountability, public engagement and other activities of the people-centred smart cities programme.

Application details 

To participate, send an email to livia.schaeffernonose@un.org  before Friday 4 March, 2022 17:00 GMT, with your name and the name of your organization, and the programme team will contact you with further information.