Smart Dublin had the pleasure of attending the Smart City Expo World Congress 2025 in Fira Barcelona, which was a global gathering of innovators, city leaders, and changemakers shaping the future of urban living. A team of representatives from the Smart Dublin ecosystem, – the four Dublin local authorities and Smart Districts—travelled to Barcelona to showcase exciting smart city projects currently underway across the Dublin region.
The Smart Dublin booth, designed by our colleague Susie Healy, offered the Dublin region a global platform to connect with the 27,000 attendees from around the globe. Over the course of this three-day event, people attended from 138 countries, representing 997 cities.
At the booth, we met with delegations from EIT Urban Mobility, the International Transport Forum, the World Economic Forum, the London Office of Technology Innovation, the Flanders Smart Region plus many more visitors who purposely visited the booth to hear about our work in Dublin.
Smart Dublin Delegation Delivers
Several team members were involved in panel discussions during the event, including Jack Kavanagh, Smart Dublin’s Open Data Lead, presenting the Active Travel Dashboard on the Move Better stage at Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress. Jack shared how the dashboard was created out of a 2024 workshop that brought together stakeholders to address mobility challenges in Dublin. The workshop revealed that while there is a wealth of data available, it was fragmented and difficult to access. The Active Travel dashboard was developed as a one-stop shop for up-to-date active travel information, with contributions from academics, the National Transport Authority, Smart Dublin, and active travel teams from all four Dublin local authorities.
Dr. Boris Tomas of Dun Laoghaire County Council and Smart Dun Laoghaire also presented at Tomorrow.Building World Congress, offering a compelling vision for the future of urban sensing. His session focused on modular, interoperable sensor systems that reduce visual pollution and improve efficiency. These systems help cities manage resources more effectively, support climate resilience, and enhance mobility while maintaining architectural harmony.
At the People First stage, Aoife Sheridan, Executive Officer with Fingal County Council, joined the URBACT panel to share how Balbriggan is empowering local businesses to embrace the green transition. Her presentation highlighted the importance of partnerships in driving sustainable change at the community level.
Dublin City Council’s Digital Twin Programme Lead Mani Dhingra, Ph.D., presented ‘Ethical Digital Twins: Dublin’s Innovation Journey’ at the thematic roundtable ‘Are Our Cities Ready for Tomorrow’s Threats?’ This roundtable explored how technology can enhance safety without compromising trust or inclusion while cities face evolving threats. From cybersecurity to public space protection, innovation must align with human values. The discussion also examined ways in which equitable and resilient approaches might protect access to digital and physical worlds.
Dublin City Council’s Drones Unit Digital Innovation Coordinator Veronica Mariti Sesoko participated in the thematic roundtable: Solving Urban Logistics Thanks to Public-Private Collaboration.The session ‘Improving Logistics Services at Lower Carbon Footprint’ discussed innovations and new logistics concepts that can make freight and last-mile delivery more sustainable.
Fingal County Council Walking & Cycling Officer Emma Court focused on the Quiet Streets Pilot in Drynam, Swords, which began as part of the EIT Urban Mobility RAPTOR (Rapid Applications for Transport) Challenge, aimed at testing innovative, low-cost approaches to neighbourhood street design and monitoring. Emma also presented the Ongar Bike Library & Smart Monitoring Project. This Fingal County Council-led project, in partnership with UCD and Bleeper, launched the Ongar Bike Library, an initiative promoting sustainable mobility that provided access to electric bikes for local residents.
We were also honoured to welcome the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Ray McAdam, to our stand on day two of the expo. He experienced our Smart Docklands digital twin in VR, experiencing firsthand how real-time environmental data can be visualised and used to inform better decision-making. Collaborations with partners like UTS Technologies and Realsim are helping us build smarter, more resilient neighbourhoods where citizens can thrive.
Attending Smart City Expo World Congress was not only a privilege but also a reminder of the global momentum behind smart city innovation. Since its launch in 2011, the event has grown into the premier international platform for urban transformation, bringing together leaders from governments, companies, and organisations committed to shaping better cities for all.
We return to Dublin energised, inspired, and more connected than ever to the global smart city community.
