The city hosts the Colombian edition of the event after the earthquake this summer
Smart City Expo Cali explores solutions for smart urban reconstruction
Santiago de Cali will host the fourth Colombian edition of Smart City Expo on 30 September and 1 October. The meeting will bring together more than 3,000 professionals and 75 national and international experts to analyse how technology, innovation and public-private collaboration can contribute both to boosting the cities of the future and to accelerating the recovery of a territory affected by a natural disaster, as in the case of the Cali region that suffered a serious earthquake last August.
Organized by the Mayor’s Office of Santiago de Cali, EMCALI, Fira de Barcelona and Corferias, Smart City Expo Cali consolidates the presence of this event in Colombia after two editions in Bogotá and one in Cartagena de Indias. Its landing in the capital of Valle del Cauca coincides with the recovery process that the region is facing after the earthquake. In this context, Smart City Expo Cali is proposed as a space to share experiences and solutions related to risk management, security, mobility, urban innovation and the development of more resilient territories prepared to face future challenges.
More specifically, the agenda of the event, which this year is presented under the slogan “Bio-intelligent cities: innovation for life”, will be structured around four main thematic axes: smart mobility and territorial connectivity; safe, resilient and healthy cities; environment and sustainable energy; and public innovation, creativity and emerging technologies. These areas will serve as a framework for analysing international experiences, sharing knowledge and promoting new opportunities for collaboration.
Congress, exhibition and networking
The Smart City Expo Cali congress program will feature 75 national and international speakers. Among the experts included in the conference agenda are the mayor of Santiago de Cali, Alejandro Eder; the author of The Nature of Our Cities, Nadina Galle; the CIO of Boston, Santiago Garcés; the entrepreneur and lecturer Mauricio Hoyos Holguín; the former mayor of Curridabat and former Minister of Education of Costa Rica Edgar Mora, and the representative of UN Women in Colombia, María Inés Salamanca.
Also included are the Secretary of Information and Communications Technologies of Valle del Cauca, Gabriel Enrique Ferrer; the main specialist in Smart Cities and Digital Development of CAF, Marcelo Facchina; the general director of Govtech and CorLab of the Municipality of Córdoba, Hernán Matías Perín; and the director for Latin America of the UITP, Eleonora Pazos.
The knowledge part will be complemented by an exhibition area, different networking spaces, aimed at generating strategic alliances and business opportunities, and an Agora Zone that will host presentations of innovative projects and specialized sessions.
As a pre-event activity, Invest Pacific and the Mayor’s Office of Santiago de Cali will organize on September 29 the visit program “Cali, the home of technology and innovation”, aimed at entrepreneurs, investors, specialized media and international experts. The initiative will allow you to learn about the city’s innovative ecosystem through tours focused on technology, renewable energies, biotechnology and innovation in health.
Fira, global brand
Smart City Expo Santiago de Cali is part of the programme of events that Fira de Barcelona organises outside Spain. This year’s events include the Smart City Expo in Santiago de Chile, Curitiba (Brazil), Santiago del Estero (Argentina) and Puebla (Mexico), as well as the Tomorrow.City in Shanghai and the United States, the second edition of Mexico Hospitality Expo in Guadalajara (Mexico) and a new Tomorrow.Blue Economy in Niterói (Brazil). In addition to all these events, the first edition of Argentina Alimenta, in Buenos Aires, is also added.
Barcelona, September 29, 2026
Josep Lluís Mérida
932 332 114
[email protected]