DIGITAL@UNGA

Human-Centric Cities in the Age of AI: Connectivity, Inclusion and Opportunity for All

This side event, held as part of Digital@UNGA Organised by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and ITU – Global Initiative on AI and Virtual Worlds – Discovering the Citiverse.

Monday 21 September online

Agenda

• 16:00 Opening remarks: Cristina Bueti, ITU Focal Point on Smart Sustainable Cities
• 16:05 Presentation of speakers and ongoing work at ITU, Pilar Orero
  • Ugliesa Stankov, Researcher, Serbia
  • Bamidele Adebisi, MMU, Professor, UK
  • Nefeli Georgakopoulou, Researcher, CERTH Greece
  • Juan A. Relaño, CIIO BOSCH Spain
• 16:15 Debate: Moderator, Hlekiwe Kachali, UNICEF
• 17:20 Closing remarks: Cristina Bueti, ITU Focal Point on Smart Sustainable Cities

The panel will explore how artificial intelligence can be harnessed to advance the public good while fostering responsible innovation across the public and private sectors. It will examine how digital urban transformation can be guided by human rights, sustainability, inclusion, and equity, ensuring that AI delivers tangible benefits for people, communities, and cities.

The panel will focus on three core pillars

• Connectivity: Leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, digital twins, and AI-driven data trusts to optimize urban infrastructure (such as traffic, energy, and water management) in real-time. It emphasizes using these tools to build predictive, evidence-based responses to crises rather than relying on reactive measures. 
• Inclusion: Addressing the socio-economic and digital divides across urban populations. A central goal is ensuring that vulnerable groups have equal access to digital services and are involved in participatory planning processes.
• Opportunity for All: Fostering innovation ecosystems that support local entrepreneurs and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). It explores how AI can be used to expand access to lifelong learning, create quality local jobs, and enhance municipal service delivery for every resident.

Key SDG Challenges & Framework Impacts

PARTICIPANTS

Professor Uglješa Stankov

His research focuses on smart tourism technologies, digital wellbeing, calm technology design, technology-assisted mindfulness, location intelligence, environmental research, sustainability, and the application of emerging technologies in tourism, education, and service environments.
He is the author of more than 120 scientific papers, four books, and numerous conference contributions, and his work is among the most cited in tourism research in Serbia. He has participated in and coordinated international projects funded through Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, COST and other programmes, and has served as an evaluator for major international initiatives, including the European Capital of Culture Novi Sad 2022 impact assessment, Expo 2020 Dubai sustainability impact assessment, and the European Capitals of Smart Tourism.

Professor Bamidele Adebisi

He also serves as a Cluster Lead for the ITU–UN Digital Development Goals initiative.
His career features significant high-impact research and industry collaboration, including senior leadership on the €29M EU Horizon 2020 Triangulum project and academic leadership of the BEIS-funded NIceEnergi project in Nigeria, among other smart sustainable cities and communities projects. He was awarded  a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2025 King’s New Year Honours for excellence in knowledge transfer. A two-time UK “Best of the Best” KTP Project of the Year winner (2020, 2024), he has also received major national recognition for collaborative impact.
With over 250 publications, he is a Fellow of the IET, Senior IEEE member, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and Chartered Engineer, as well as a globally sought-after thought leader and advisor in AI and sustainable infrastructure.

Nefeli Georgakopoulou

Since 2019, she has been a Research Associate at the Information Technologies Institute (ITI) of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH). Her work explores extended reality (XR), multisensory interaction, and participatory design, with a focus on how immersive technologies and arts can foster social engagement, cultural innovation, and new forms of spatial experience. She has participated in European S+T+ARTS projects MindSpaces and ReSilence, and currently serves as Project Manager of the SPICE EU project, which aims to develop new models of participation in neighbourhood design and transformation.

Juan A. Relaño

He created Bosch’s Open Innovation Programme in Spain, bringing together corporations, startups, universities and research centres to accelerate AI and Industry 4.0 innovation. Among these initiatives, he established the Honorary Chair on Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) with the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, promoting collaborative research and talent development in human-centred AI. 
Juan is also Co-founder and Board President of the CIO Executive Council Spain, a leading think tank that promotes collaboration among technology executives to advance digital transformation, innovation and sustainability. Alongside his executive responsibilities, he serves as Adjunct Professor at IE Business School, where he teaches Industry 4.0, AIoT and Connected Manufacturing, and Cybersecurity, Digital Transformation and Open Innovation at Loyola University.
An active contributor to several European Horizon research projects, including ALFIE, Juan advocates for trustworthy, ethical and human-centric AI that creates value for society while promoting inclusion, accessibility and sustainable development. In 2024 he was recognised as IDC CIO of the Year, reflecting his leadership in innovation and responsible digital transformation. 

Cristina Bueti

Cristina Bueti graduated from the Faculty of Political Science, Law and International Cooperation and Development of the University of Florence, where she completed postgraduate studies in International Cooperation and Telecommunications Law in Europe. In 2003, Ms. Bueti built on her academic credentials by completing a specialized course in peace keeping and international cooperation with special focus on telecommunications at the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta, before joining the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva in January 2004. She has authored over 40 reports on telecommunication and emerging technology issues. A native Italian speaker, Cristina is also fluent in English, French and Spanish.

Professor Pilar Orero

Leader and participant of numerous EU funded research projects focusing on media accessibility. She works in standardisation and participates in the UN ITU IRG-AVA – Intersector Rapporteur Group Audiovisual Media Accessibility. She has been working on Immersive Accessibility for the past 7 years first in a EU project calledImAc, which results are now further developed in TRACTION, MEDIAVERSE, MILE, and GREENSCENT.
She led until December 2022 the EU network LEADME on Media Accessibility. She was the Co-Chair of Study Group on Accessibility and Inclusion in the ITU Metaverse Focus Group, and she is leading the Digital Inclusion and Accessibility track of the ITU Virtual Worlds. She is now working on AI and accessibility in four EU funded projects ClearClimate, ALFIE, SPICE and VOPUS.

For more info please go to: https://webs.uab.cat/pilarorero/

This event is partly organised by