6th Smart Cities India Expo 2021 concludes with celebration of India’s Digital Transformations and Smart Cities Innovations
India’s largest technology & infrastructure expo witnessed a total of 500 participating brands, 50+ conference sessions, 250 eminent speakers, along with 60 international brands who participated virtually. The three-day expo curated focussed showcases and conversations on the convergence of technologies and innovations, with a broader goal of optimizing resources to make India smarter, more sustainable and self-reliant. Organized by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Exhibitions India Group (EIG), the 6th Smart Cities India Expo 2021, was held from 24-26 March 2021 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi; receiving an extraordinary response from the industry.
The Smart Cities India expo is a platform that has been actively driving India’s infrastructure revolution and support India’s Smart Cities Missions, the event focussed on key areas, including IoT, Integrated Command Control Centres (ICCCs), e-Governance, Communication systems, Data storage and Management, Innovative urban planning practices, Green buildings, Solar energy, Logistics, Clean Environment, and Water, and many more.
Welcoming all industry stakeholders to the expo, Ms. Chandrika Behl, Managing Director, Exhibitions India Group, said, “This year’s expo held considerable significance for the industry, and the nation at large. Throughout the ‘New Normal,’ we have witnessed an ever-increasing integration of technologies into our day-to-day lives. Digital transformations are driving development and progress across all industries and spheres of life, and will be instrumental in writing India’s growth story. As we organize the latest edition of the expo, we believe that our carefully-curated platform will be a catalyst in India’s emergence on the global stage as a Knowledge Leader.”
Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, headlined the City Leader’s Conclave on Day 2 of the event at the session on ‘Building Better Cities,’ that witnessed talks from pioneers and cross-domain experts on building resilient cities. The day-long City’s Leaders Conclave included many City Administrators, including Smart City leaders from various Indian cities, and several industry experts. “The first learning is that cities are for people, for its citizens, and not just for corporations and bureaucrats. Citizens have demonstrated that they can come together to think, aspire, benchmark, and create targets for what their city needs to do and what will be best for citizens. The main lesson from Smart Cities is to identify how to get more from less and how to make cities more inclusive,” said Shri D.S. Mishra.
Special showcases at the event included a ‘Startup Pavilion’ featuring 35+ startups across various segments of ICT & Smart Cities technologies. This year’s edition also featured a ‘Startup Pitch’ competition, sponsored by Incubation Centre, IIT Patna, across various sectors including Internet of Things (IoT), Automation, Mechatronics, Robotics, Medical Electronics, Industry 4.0, Smart Cities and other related ESDM.
The international exhibition marked an eventful 3 days, after a tremendous and encouraging industry response. For the first time, the expo adopted a hybrid approach- being simultaneously held in both physical and digital formats. 60 international brands joined virtually at the hybrid event, with interactive features including virtual booths, exhibitor meetings, exhibitor live chat, video calls & virtual room, exhibitor product marketplace, exhibitor lead capture, and more.
The 6th Smart Cities India Expo 2021 concluded with the Smart City India (SCI) Awards. SCI Awards is a unique platform designed to felicitate, recognize and encourage individuals, policy makers, companies, municipalities, government bodies and associations to illuminate the work done across both urban and rural sectors. It is a well-recognized industry platform with 800+ submissions reviewed by an eminent jury comprising industry veterans.
The award felicitation was graced by Chief Guest Shri. Jibesh Kumar, Hon’ble Minister Department of IT, Government of Bihar, who congratulated the organizers for a successful event, saying, “The 6th Smart Cities India expo has deftly demonstrated over the last 3 days how it’s time to restart growth in the country with B2B exhibitions, and how trade events can be held with appropriate safety measures in place. My congratulations to the organizers- Exhibitions India Group and India Trade Promotion Organisation- for curating an excellent industry gathering towards the incredible cause of Building a Digital and Smart India.”
Pictures of this fantastic event can be found here.