Program
Investing in Smart Cities: Driving Sustainable Development through Digital and Energy Infrastructure
Climate risk has been intensifying, and cities have emerged as central actors in achieving global sustainability targets. Beyond isolated sectoral challenges — such as sanitation, energy, or housing — the urban transition requires integrated solutions, guided by data and underpinned by robust and interoperable digital infrastructure.
So-called Smart Cities strategically incorporate digital technologies to enhance the efficiency of public services and to promote environmental sustainability through data-driven approaches and continuous innovation. In this context, Urban Tech companies — those developing technological solutions to urban challenges — also play a strategic role by connecting technological innovation, public governance, and private investment, thereby improving systemic efficiency in cities and accelerating decarbonisation.
The city of Curitiba, nationally and internationally recognised for its tradition in urban planning, has, over the past decade, established itself as a laboratory for digital solutions applied to urban governance and the sustainable transition. A concrete example is the Hipervisor (a project supported by investment from the French Development Agency), a municipal data integration and analytics platform that connects areas such as transport, environment, sanitation, and energy, enabling predictive analysis and enhanced coordination across public policies. By transforming urban data into strategic planning intelligence, the city strengthens energy efficiency, reduces emissions, and enhances climate resilience.
In this context, CEBRI, in partnership with ApexBrasil and the Delegation of the European Union to Brazil, proposes organising a Business Dialogue alongside the 2026 edition of Smart City Expo Curitiba. The business event will centre on the integration between digital transformation and the energy transition, based on the understanding that digital infrastructure (including data systems, computational capacity, and technological governance) constitutes a structural element for improving urban management and addressing climate change. Drawing on the case of Curitiba and on European experiences in applying technologies to make urban environments “smart”, the meeting will seek to identify concrete investment and business development opportunities, models of technological cooperation, and pathways for scaling urban solutions in Brazil.
Partnership: Global Gateway; Delegation of the European Union to Brazil; ApexBrasil; Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services; Federal Government
Support: iCities; Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná (FIEP)
