Nominees from LLGA2012 at the LLGA | Cities Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

120 global companies and organizations have pledged their commitment to join 22 global cities and implement their high impact solutions to challenges such as social exclusion, energy management, urban dereliction, mobility and health. In a unique global effort 22 forward-thinking cities including London, Barcelona, Paris, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos and Fukuoka opened a competition for innovators to win the opportunity to implement their solutions in a real environment. After a selection process covering 2,535 candidates, 120 providers were invited to present their commitment to partner with cities and help improve the lives of 121 million citizens.

In November 2012 the fourth edition of LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future programme was launched by Citymart.com in partnership with Oracle, the UN Global Compact Cities Programme and The Climate Group. In this one-of –kind initiative 22 cities publicly published their most pressing urban and social challenges in areas such as social inclusion, health & well-being, economic development, urban management, mobility, lighting, energy and sustainable lifestyles. Over a 3-month period, Citymart.com researchers identified 2,535 solutions that responded to those challenges. A total of 456 solutions entered a first round of evaluation by the cities, with the help of 159 expert jurors. The full list of nominees can be seen here.

Entering the second and final round in the program, 120 companies and organisations of different sizes, such as The Good Life for All, a social enterprise from Brighton (UK), Virtualwaregroup an SME based in Barcelona, Mobcoders, a Danish start-up or Philips, have committed to presenting proposals to invest in the participating cities to demonstrate the viability and impact of their technologies and solutions in real life.

Sascha Haselmayer, CEO of Citymart.com says  “LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future has transformed the way cities and the innovation community collaborate. With the announcement of 120 commitments to partner with cities, companies and organizations around the world have shown their enthusiasm and ability to collaborate with cities in solving the most pressing urban and social challenges today.” 

The participation of cities and solution providers in LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future represents a joint commitment to spread proven innovations in a more cost-effective and sustainable way, helping build more resilient and smarter communities.  557,000 local governments spend $4.5 trillion each year to deliver the services that shape the quality of life of the majority of the world’s population. The LLGA initiative helps cities discover innovative, yet ready solutions to meet their problems and matches their commitment to act with the willingness of businesses and organisations to share initial risks. Past editions of LLGA have proven that this process can deliver solutions to citizens at least 3 times faster and at 80% lower costs by leveraging smart solutions and avoiding re-invention.

Xavier Trias, Mayor of Barcelona, says “LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future is a great opportunity to identify and share solutions to the global challenges that cities are facing. Every city is a world in itself, and we are living in an urban world, this is why it is so important to identify those common problems which require shared solutions. Barcelona has participated in all LLGA editions, and shares the vision of this transparent process with leading technology companies, social entrepreneurs, and international research centers. Furthermore, LLGA is a great opportunity for Catalan companies to join in and participate in this global process”

On 14-16 May 2013, leaders of the 22 partner cities and the 120 nominated solution providers will come together at the LLGA | Cities Summit in San Francisco to deepen their partnerships, announce the 22 most promising solutions, debate their challenges, and kick-start implementation.  

San Francisco Mayor, Ed Lee, says “San Francisco is excited to be the first city in the United States to host the LLGA | Cities Summit.  San Francisco, as the Innovation Capital of the World, will facilitate a vigorous exchange of ideas and help develop innovative solutions to common urban challenges including transportation, the environment and healthcare that will build a better world.”

About Citymart.com / LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future

Citymart.com is a global marketplace for cities based in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Barcelona (Spain), working with more than 80 cities and 1,200 companies, NGOs and research centers in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Its mission is to accelerate the sharing of solutions for cities by matching social and urban challenges early-on with ready solutions around the world.  In the past four years Citymart.com has published 70 Calls for Solutions.

Citymart.com and its one-of a kind program LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future, has been recognized by leading global organizations such as the Clinton Global Initiative, the UN Global Compact Cities Programme and Ashoka Innovators for the Public for its transformative impact on improving decision-making, transparency and accountability in cities around the world.

Social media: twitter.com/LLGACities & twitter.com/CitymartTeam and facebook.com/citymartcom

For information about LLGA visit www.llga.org  and www.citymart.com

About Oracle

Oracle’s City Platform solutions leverage the company’s best-in-class portfolio of products to address complex business processes relevant to the public sector, helping speed time to market, reduce costs and gain a competitive edge. 

For more information about Oracle, visit www.oracle.com

About The Climate Group

The Climate Group is an independent, not-for-profit organization, which brings together a global coalition of the world’s most powerful governments, brands and public figures across Asia, Europe and North America. Since 2004, they’ve been working with governments, business leaders and the world’s most influential individuals to push for the policies, technologies and investment we need to make the Clean Revolution commercially viable. Together, we have the power to create a smarter, better, more prosperous future for all.

For more information about The Climate Group visit www.theclimategroup.org

About the UN Global Compact Cities Programme

The UN Global Compact Cities Programme was initiated by former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan in 2003. It is a discrete component of the Global Compact, based in Melbourne and New York. The UN Global Compact Cities Programme provides an innovative framework for cities to develop and implement sustainable solutions to urban challenges of a long-term and often intractable nature. It was developed in response to the need to rethink sustainability approaches and to enable meaningful engagement of cities across all their activities—economic, ecological, political and cultural. By utilizing a common methodology, ‘Circles of Sustainability’, UN Global Compact Cities Programme combines the knowledge, experience and resources inherent within municipalities, business and civil society to bring together the strengths of each.

For more information about The UN Global Compact Cities Programme visit www.citiesprogramme.com

Citymart.com

Citymart.com

Living Labs Global is a non-profit association based in Copenhagen and Barcelona working with 50 global cities and 500 businesses, research and technology centres to promote the use of new technologies to meet some of the major challenges meeting cities today.

Cities include Barcelona, Birmingham, Caceres, Cape Town, Coventry, Derry-Londonderry, Eindhoven, Glasgow, Guadalajara, Hamburg, Lagos, Mexico City, New Taipei City, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, Sant Cugat, Santiago de Chile, Tainan, and Terrassa.

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