CITY FOR THE FUTURE

ABOUT THE EVENT

Connecting Minds, Creating the Future: this is the topic of the very first EXPO held in the Middle East region. And it is also exactly what we do in our City For The Future presentation concerned with smart and sustainable cities. We researched some of the most inspiring Czech ideas, technologies and solutions and merged them together into a single vision showing what urban life might look like in a few years and how Czech innovations may contribute to creating a pleasant, human-friendly future where a true symbiosis with nature is achieved. The vision builds on the idea of sustainability, which is one of three subthemes of Dubai's EXPO and also the underlying motive of the Czech pavilion and a key interest of the United Arab Emirates with whom the Czech Republic, with the help of EXPO, develops cooperative relations.

32 Czech companies take part in this joint effort. The organisers from Ministry of Industry and Trade and CzechTrade took extra care when selecting them and consulted trusted partners that interact with innovations on a daily basis, especially the Forbes magazine, South Moravian Innovation Centre and the CzechInvest agency. The final portfolio includes solutions from various areas, such as mobility, infrastructure, smart buildings, environmental technologies, energy distribution, services, logistics or smart farming. This further proves cities are very complex ecosystems where many components need to click into each other. And addressing such complex matters: that's what EXPOs are about.

Didn't make it to EXPO? No problem! Check below our video reports, the City For The Future movie and recorded conference with Forbes.

CITY FOR THE FUTURE – MOVIE

When thinking about cities of tomorrow, it is obvious that wildly-shaped skyscrapers, levitating cars or omnipresent robots aren’t the keys to a meaningful and sustainable life. That’s why we left futuristic visions behind and focused on what truly matters – on what makes cities efficient, healthy, user-friendly, respectful to nature and desirable as places for living.

An ordinary day of every one of us consists of many repeating activities that we don’t give much thought to. Such as using energy, transporting ourselves, interacting with public infrastructure, eating, shopping or working in an office. Altogether, these routines end up taking a major portion of our time. Therefore, they have a significant impact on the quality of our lives, and a power to determine how we affect our environment.

With 32 innovative Czech companies, we look behind the curtain of this seemingly trivial reality to uncover the interconnected processes in the background. We illustrate how even minor practical improvements – when standing together – may bring a major change in the big picture. The future doesn't have to be rocket science!

PATRONS OF THE EVENT

Jozef Síkela

Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic

Dear visitors,

EXPO exhibitions attract the attention of the professional as well as public spheres from countries all around the world. Therefore, they represent an important opportunity for participants not only to be seen but also to establish relations and cooperation from which all kinds of synergies can emerge. However, let us not forget the main motive for organizing EXPO is to come up with possible solutions for global problems and responses to today's challenges, such as urbanization and city life. The City For The Future project began with the question of whether the Czech Republic is able to offer any comprehensive approach to smart and sustainable cities. After two years of preparations under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the CzechTrade agency, we already know that this is indeed one of the strengths of our country, which may constitute an important instrument for the development of relations with foreign countries.

Although EXPO tempts into designing grandiose concepts, our Ministry focused on presenting visionary but still very concrete and tangible solutions, because more important than having an idea is to be able to implement it. Thus, on the video visit of the City For The Future, you will find specific companies, brands, products and services that can improve cities now or in the very near future. I believe that with this concept we will intrigue partners not only in the United Arab Emirates, but also in other countries in which the City For The Future roadshow will make a stop.

Jiří Slavík

Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United Arab Emirates

Dear visitors,

The World EXPO in Dubai was a long-awaited event in the United Arab Emirates and the entire Middle East region, all the more so due to the annual delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The exhibition is an important milestone for the Emirates. After years of dynamic development, the country has become a global hub of trade, investment, transport, tourism and also innovative technologies. Thanks to this, the country is today a promising partner for the development of strategic cooperation in a number of areas that are also significant for the Czech Republic.

I am pleased the EXPO will help bring the Czech Republic and the Emirates closer together and result, among other things, in the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on economic and technical cooperation. It is fitting that at the same time, the Czech Republic presents topics in the Emirates along which this cooperation can be further developed. This concerns not only EXPO and City For The Future, but also Czech participation in other trade fairs with a global reach, such as Dubai Airshow, Intersec, Arab Health, Middle East Energy or Middle East Rail. I am pleased that all these activities give the Czech-Emirati relations a practical dimension and will lead to an increasing number of joint projects in the future.

Jiří František Potužník

Commisioner-general of the Czech participation in EXPO Dubai

Dear visitors,

welcome to the future. Welcome to a city where the innovations of Czech companies and research institutes restore the balance between human civilization and the natural world. As early as 2050, according to some studies, two-thirds of our planet's population may live in cities. The City For The Future exhibition offers a look into a world where people in cities not only can but also want to live.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade selected Czech solutions to global problems for the World EXPO in Dubai. How to provide clean air and clean water, plenty of food and energy, dignified space for life and spiritual development for billions of people in cities. Smart technologies are not here to make people serve them but to serve people and nature.

The core of the Czech exposition at the World EXPO is the S.A.W.E.R. system, which independently produces water even from dry air – a technological miracle that can create an oasis in the desert. But the desert is not just a land without water. It is also a symbol for a life without imagination, or for a world without humanity. City For The Future is the exact opposite. It is an oasis worth visiting.

LOCATION

World EXPO 2020 in Dubai, held from 1st October 2021 to 31st March 2022

Czech Republic's country pavilion "Czech Spring" in the Sustainability district of EXPO

Joint rotary exhibition of Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic and Czech Trade Promotion Agency, on the 1st floor of the pavilion

PROGRAM

15th January 2022 (Saturday)
Opening day of the rotary exhibition City For The Future

23th January 2022 (Sunday)
Arrival of Minister of Industry and Trade with a delegation in Dubai

24th January 2022 (Monday)
Ceremonial signature of the bilateral cooperation agreement between the Czech Republic and the United Arab Emirates

22nd Czech Business Council Gala Business Session at Radisson Blu Hotel, Deira Creek

25th January 2022 (Tuesday)
City For The Future evening with Forbes in the Czech pavilion at EXPO

29th January 2022 (Saturday)
Closing day of the rotary exhibition

CITY FOR THE FUTURE EVENING WITH FORBES:

18:00 Welcome drink, individual or guided tours of the Czech pavilion

18:20 – 18:28 City For The Future video introduction

18:28 – 18:30 Welcome speech of Petr Šimůnek - Forbes Česko

18:30 - 18:40 CZECHS AT EXPO
Jozef Síkela - Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic; Jiří František Potužník - Commissioner General of the Czech participation in EXPO

18:40 – 19:00 CZECHS CONQUERING THE WORLD
Igluu - Pavel Dvořák; DataFromSky - Pavel Fojtík; Prusa Research - Josef Průša

19:00 – 19:20 TOP LOGISTICS IS THE KEY
Logio - Vojtěch Cuchý; VZLÚ - Josef Kašpar; BringAuto - Jan Najvárek

19:20 – 19:40 LIFE IN SMART BUILDINGS
Liko-s - Jan Musil; Sharry - Josef Šachta; Spaceti - Max Verteletskyi

19:40 – 20:00 ADVISED BY AI AND BIG DATA
Mycroft Mind - František Müller; VisionCraft - Robert Pinkas

20:00 – 22:00 Networking with buffet diner and live Petrof piano music