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SmartCitiesWorld City Infrastructure AI Virtual Workshop - 23 October 2025
SmartCitiesWorld City Infrastructure AI Virtual Workshop
The City Infrastructure AI Workshop will bring together city practitioners and decision-makers from across the Middle East and Europe, alongside policymakers and technology leaders. The event is designed to highlight how AI can strengthen critical urban infrastructure – from transport systems to safety operations – by showcasing real-world examples and enabling peer-to-peer exchange. The workshop will focus on sharing experiences, identifying challenges, and exploring how advanced AI solutions can improve infrastructure resilience, operational efficiency, and sustainability in practice across transport operations and safety applications in urban settings.
As a closed-room virtual event, cities in attendance can feel free to be open and transparent about their challenges, what’s working for them, what’s not, and where they need further support. The roundtables will encourage sharing of best practice and will help cities toward finding solutions to their most pressing challenges.
The workshop is an invitation only event for delegates working for cities, local or regional authorities as well as policymakers and technology leaders. All registrations are reviewed by our team to ensure relevance and we’ll advise if your seat at the event is approved or not.
Registration closed
Thank you to our sponsors, Dell Technologies and NVIDIA, for supporting this event.
Key themes
Computer vision
- In transport: applied to monitor road and rail conditions, detect hazards, and improve traffic management.
- In safety/security: used for real-time monitoring of critical infrastructure sites, crowd management, and anomaly detection.
Digital twins and simulation
- In transport: creating virtual models of road networks, rail lines, and logistics hubs to test maintenance strategies and plan for growth.
- In safety/security: simulating stress scenarios on energy or water networks, planning emergency responses, and testing resilience strategies before deployment.
Generative and agentic AI
- In transport: providing natural-language interfaces for transport operators to query infrastructure data, and automating back-office processes for infrastructure maintenance.
- In safety/security: automating reporting, supporting frontline staff with decision guidance in emergencies, and improving citizen communication during incidents.
Schedule (BST): Thursday 23 October 2025
11.00 - 11.15: Keynote presentation: AI and resilient urban infrastructure
(6.00 - 6.15 EDT, 12.00 - 12.15 CEST, 14.00 - 14.15 GST)
11.15 - 12.45: Roundtable discussions (infrastructure in transport; infrastructure in safety and security – running concurrently)
(6.15 - 6.45 EDT, 12.15 - 12.45 CEST, 14.15 - 14.45 GST)
12.45 - 12.55: Roundtable representatives share summaries and key insights
(6.45 - 6.55 EDT, 12.45 - 12.55 CEST, 14.45 - 14.55 GST)
12.55-13.00: Closing remarks and workshop close
(7.00 EDT, 13.00 CEST, 15.00 GST)
Roundtable 1: City transportation
Cities are under pressure to deliver efficient, sustainable, and resilient mobility systems while coping with rapid urbanisation, congestion, and environmental goals. AI can help optimise road and rail assets, extend the life of physical infrastructure, and enable better planning for future demand. The integration of transport infrastructure with digital tools such as digital twins and computer vision is emerging as a critical enabler.
Key questions and talking points:
- What are the most pressing challenges your city faces in managing transport services and infrastructure today (e.g. congestion, maintenance, integration of modes)?
- Are you already applying AI tools such as computer vision, digital twins, or generative AI in transport operations? If so, what results have you seen so far? If not, why not?
- For those who have piloted or implemented AI, what barriers did you face in adoption (budget, skills, procurement, integration with legacy systems) and how did you overcome them? For those who have not, what barriers stand in the way?
- Looking ahead, what are your priorities for AI in transport infrastructure and ops – for example, predictive maintenance, traffic optimisation, multimodal planning?
- Do you feel your city has the readiness (skills, governance, infrastructure) to scale AI in transport? If not, what steps would help you get there?
- What external support – from partners, vendors, peers, or policymakers – would be most useful to you in advancing AI adoption for transport infrastructure and services?
Roundtable 2: Safety and security operations
The resilience and protection of urban infrastructure are critical in ensuring safe and liveable cities. AI can enhance monitoring, detect vulnerabilities, and optimise responses to both physical and digital threats. In the context of critical assets – from energy grids to public spaces – AI tools can help cities anticipate risks, strengthen operations, and safeguard public trust.
Key questions and talking points:
- What are the most significant safety and security challenges your city is facing, particularly in protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring operational resilience?
- Are you already using AI technologies, such as computer vision for monitoring or predictive analytics for risk assessment, in your safety and security operations? What has worked well and what hasn’t? If not, why not?
- What challenges did you encounter in adopting these technologies (technical, organisational, regulatory, public trust) and how did you address them? If not already in use, what hurdles are preventing you from doing so?
- How are you planning to expand the role of AI in your safety and security infrastructure over the next few years?
- Do you feel prepared in terms of governance, skills, and infrastructure to responsibly scale AI in safety and security? What gaps still exist?
- What kind of help or collaboration – whether from technology providers, regional policymakers, or other cities – would make the biggest difference in helping you implement AI more effectively?
Keynote
Name: Charbel Aoun
Title: Smart City & Spaces Director – EMEA
Organisation: NVIDIA
Biography:
Charbel Aoun leads Smart Cities and Spaces for EMEA at NVIDIA, where he helps customers and partners realise the benefits of AI. He has spent 25 years in Fortune 500 and technology startups, making digital transformation happen.
Scene Setter
Name: Andy Emmonds
Title: Chief Transport Analyst
Organisation: Transport for London
Biography:
Andy is a Data Scientist with over 25 years’ experience of leading and delivering complex projects related to utilisation of data in transport, specifically for the last 18 years working for Transport for London (TfL) managing data to solve problems to provide improved multimodal performance outcomes for London’s Roads. This experience has culminated in the delivery of a working proof of concept for a real time “Digital Twin” mirroring activities on London’s roads to be used in a complex transport integrated systems project (SITS), where it will be used as the basis for the new decision support system for the London Network Management Control Centre.
Roundtable Moderator
Name: Lee Clinton Hopkins
Title: Field Director EMEA
Organisation: Dell Technologies
Biography:
Lee Hopkins is a Field Director at Dell, with 14 years at the company and extensive experience in Operational Technology Projects across various sectors.
For the past 7 years, Lee has been a key contributor to Dell’s Safety & Security, AI & Computer Vision team, supporting Smart and Safe Cities and innovating in Law Enforcement and Defense.
Lee specializes in deploying advanced technology for security and operational resilience worldwide, consistently delivering impactful results and driving digital transformation in demanding industries.
Roundtable Moderator
Name: Erik Ullstrand
Title: Senior Principle Consultant
Organisation: Dell Technologies
Biography:
Erik Ullstrand is Field Director at Dell’s Alliances Industries team, based in Spain and serving the EMEA region. With seven years at Dell, Erik is a trusted advisor and technical consultant, delivering solution-driven expertise in security and information technology. During his time at Dell, Erik has helped customers across Smart Cities, Law Enforcement, and Defense, deploying advanced technologies to enhance resilience and drive digital transformation in for critical infrastructure and across demanding sectors.
Organisations registered to attend
- Greater Amman Municipality
- Milton Keynes City Council
- Gauteng Provincial Government
- Ville de Luxembourg
- Arab Organization for Industrialization
- Gridspertise
- Smart City Consulting
- Nexus - University of Leeds
- CCI Budapest
- Kaunas City Municipality Administration
- County Government of Mombasa
- Transport for London
- Clust-ER BUILD
- Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa
- Mayors of Europe
- Autodesk - Digital Twin Compliance
- Coalition for Reimagined Mobility
- Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu
- Kyiv City Administration
- UrbanPeer Ltd
- Alliance of European Mayors
- STV Projects Specialists
- Burgas Municipality
- BKK Centre for Budapest Transport
- Ville de Luxembourg
- Technical University of Istanbul
- Municipalidad de Guatemala
- Ministry of Finance
- Stadt Hamm
- City of Johannesburg
- Gobierno De Navarra Transportes
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
- SGG - Subsecretaria de Energia, Telecomunicações e Cidades Inteligentes
- Kuwait Oil Company
- Sentiente - Global Alliance for Artificial Intelligence
- World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO)
- Environment Society of Oman
- The Scottish Government
- City of Torino
- County Government of Mombasa
- Riyadh Infrastructure Projects Center
- Interact - European Commission
- UAE Space Agency
Job titles of registered attendees
- Program Director
- Vice President
- Former Mayor
- Head of Open Innovation
- Chief Sustainability Officer
- Vice Chairman
- Senior Specialist
- Expert - Space Policies and International Relations
- Team Leader
- CIO
- Program Director
- IT Director
- Senior Data Scientist
- Head of Systems and Infrastructure Department
- Professor and Doctor of Public Transit
- Coordinador Informatica DIGM
- System Analyst
- Cellular Coordinator
- Deputy Director: Strategy & Research
- Head of Mobility and Logistics Department
- Assistant Director - Transport
- Senior Principal Consultant
- Geographic Information Systems & Street Naming and Numbering Manager
- Director: Monitoring Evaluation and Advisory Services
- Urban Development Director
- Strategic Partnership Development
- Policy and Partnerships Manager
- Chief Data Officer
- CIO Advisor
- Managing Director
- Senior Planner
- Head of Supply Relations Division
- Senior GIS Officer
- Programme Manager
- Technical Office GM
- Traffic Engineer
- Contract Manager
- Director Smart Cities Consulting
- Smart Cities Lead
- Chamber Counsellor
- Head of Transport and Traffic Management Division
- Transportation Engineer
- Chief Transport Analyst
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How can computer vision improve real-time traffic hazard detection and management?In what ways do digital twins optimize maintenance planning for urban transport networks?How does generative AI automate emergency response communication during city incidents?What strategies enable scaling AI integration within legacy urban infrastructure systems?How can AI-driven predictive analytics enhance resilience in critical safety operations?BECOME A MEMBER
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