News
From 27 February to 29 May, the Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) received 130 Expressions of Interest from 192 cities in 20 countries in the European Union and the United Kingdom. The European Commission and ICC team were very pleased to see that so many cities are eager to become more sustainable, liveable and socially-responsible by using advanced technologies.
After careful deliberation, 88 applications have now been selected to take part in the Challenge over the next 2 years. Among these applications, 5 cities from Romania were selected: Arad, Bistrita, Galati, Iasi and Timisoara.
This group includes 54 new ICC applications, 26 cities that took part in the Digital Cities Challenge predecessor initiative, and 8 EU mentor cities. We are still selecting 10 international cities to complete the list of the 100 cities that will take part in the ICC journey. Since 8 of the applicants are consortia, including several partner cities, the selected group of cities involves a total of 124 cities.
The 100 Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) is a unique opportunity for evolving EU cities to join a community that leverages advanced technologies, to tackle the pandemic crisis and reconstruct their economies while steering them in the direction of green smart sustainable growth. This will help cities to improve the quality of life and create new opportunities for their business communities.
The ICC will build on the success of the Digital Cities Challenge, which helped 41 EU cities develop a strategic vision and a roadmap for digital transformation. ICC cities will receive high quality and tailored guidance and expert support, access to advisory and city peer networks (European and international), and capability building tools, to drive priority policy goals and the uptake of advanced technologies.
ERTICO, the City of Lisbon and ITS Portugal announced the postponement of the 2020 ITS European Congress to May 2023 due to the current health situation.
Given the already scheduled 2021 Hamburg Congress and the TRA event in April-May 2022 in Lisbon, the new planned date for the European ITS Congress in Lisbon will likely be 22-24 May 2023. The ITS community is founded on the principle of innovation and the ability to overcome obstacles for the greater good of humanity. We intend to continue to work by these values and demonstrate how ITS can be a real GAME CHANGER, today and in the future.
We are keen to ensure that the exchange of knowledge, expertise, best practices and creation of collaboration opportunities for the members of the ITS community continues despite the current challenges. For this reason, we are continuously working closely with all our partners to establish new plans, exploring any and all potential additional options to keep you engaged in the ITS conversation. Updates will be communicated in the next weeks about this.
Groupe Renault Romania supports the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and made available to hospitals in Romania, in the form of sponsorship, in agreement with the Ministry of Health, 150 vehicles Dacia and Renault.
The sponsorship was done in two tranches, the first time being made available to the military cadres 100 cars, and then another 50. The cars are used for medical and auxiliary personnel travel, in emergencies identified by the national authorities.
Seeing that the first fleet of 100 cars is reaching its goal, the factory representatives announced shortly: “To further support the need for medical and auxiliary personnel to travel, Groupe Renault Romania supplements the number of vehicles available to the Ministry of Health by 50 of Renault electric vehicles. The first fleet of 100 cars arrived in Romanian hospitals well. We also thank the network of dealers who has mobilized exemplarily in this solidarity action ”.