The Forum was held in a novel conference setting: participants and speakers were able to follow the Forum’s program in direct proximity to the Formula-E track and had a unique chance to visit the Formula-E village.

A number of renowned mobility experts, including the President of OMDAI and FIA Vice-President for Sport José Abed, the Chairman of the Board of Telmex Carlos Slim Domit, as well as the Undersecretary for Mobility of Mexico City Laura Ballesteros, were all on-hand to participate in the opening ceremony.  Alejandro Agag, CEO of FIA Formula E and Esteban Gutierrez, Mexican racing star, also joined the debate showing how the Formula E platform can contribute to driving innovation in cities and promote cleaner mobility.

«Mexico city is committed to meet climate goals and tackle hazardous effects of air pollution and traffic congestion. Enabling clean transport solutions is a concrete step we are undertaking to achieve carbon emission-reducing goals” stated Laura Ballesteros. The Undersecretary for Mobility also encouraged the FIA to sustain leadership in promoting smart urban mobility, noting that the Smart Cities Initiative can “serve as a global platform for sharing smart experiences and exemplary practices among the cities”.

The opening ceremony was followed by two panels gathering speakers from local authorities, UN institutions, research and development agencies as well as the FIA network. Participants discussed policies and services being implemented in Mexico City to reap the benefits of urbanization and improve current mobility patterns. As noted by the local transport authorities, electrification of the fleet, on-demand mobility services as well as more efficient urban planning are among the core ingredients of the city’s sustainable mobility plan. Speakers from the private sector shared recent developments in smart grid infrastructure, pointing to new synergies between technologies and mobility solutions. All panelists agreed that the use of technologies was synergistic with a dramatic increase of cities moving towards more efficient and sustainable transport systems.

José Abed, President of FIA Club OMDAI and FIA Vice-President for Sport said “Today, mobility users want to move faster, more efficiently and in a safer manner. They want to benefit from transport services that are tailored to their actual needs and that are better interconnected within the broader urban ecosystem.”

The dimension of technological know-how was further featured at the Smart Cities Start Up session where a selection of visionary entrepreneurs presented their ideas on scaling innovations to make cities more livable. The Forum concluded with a visit to the Formula-E track where participants could see the “innovation in motion” and enjoy, first-hand, the experience of electric racing.

Held along the axes of Sports and Mobility, the Forum became a testimony of the FIA’s comparative advantage in the field of sustainable urban mobility. The representation of the FIA Member Clubs in the Forum’s programme reaffirmed the relevance and importance of the urban debate to Mobility Clubs and their evolving membership networks.   

About the Smart Cities Initiative

The Smart Cities is a platform for knowledge generation and information exchange in the field of sustainable urban mobility. The Initiative, led by the FIA and  supported by Formula E, Michelin, ENEL, Julius Baer and Digital Leader Ventures,  was established to encourage the transfer of technological expertise from Sports to Mobility to further the debate on possible solutions to tackle the pressing issues of pollution and congestion in cities. 

The FIA is ideally positioned to initiate a discussion on the future of mobility in cities, calling for a collaboration of various stakeholders that represent states, private sector, users and academia. At the crossroads of Sports and Mobility, the Smart Cities Conference will help cities define a path to a sustainable future and to realise that goal.