Smart Cities Conference 2026

🏙️ This year the fifth Smart Cities Conference will be taking place on 17 September at RTU auditorium house «Domus Auditorialis» in Riga, Latvia as part of European Mobility Week.

The conference aims to explore, discuss and share experience on how to create people-centered urban environments that respond to today’s challenges, while fostering collaboration between cities, innovators, researchers and industry to develop and scale urban mobility innovations.

This year’s conference will focus on a central question: what is needed for urban innovation to truly work? City and municipal representatives, academics, companies, investors and members of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Urban Mobility network will explore how to move from identifying problems to creating real preconditions that enable scalable mobility solutions to develop and be implemented in practice.

🔎 Main conference themes:

• urban governance and readiness for innovation;

• scaling mobility innovations in the Baltic region;

• effective public-private collaboration;

• urban data governance and digital twins;

• autonomous mobility and urban air mobility;

• EIT Urban Mobility programmes and funding opportunities.

🤝 The conference is organised by Riga Technical University, Riga City Municipality, the innovation movement VEFRESH and the University of Latvia, with the support of the EIT Urban Mobility innovation community.

More information about the programme will follow closer to the event.

ℹ️ If you are visiting from abroad and need accommodation, as a participant of the conference you can get a discount at these hotels:

1.  Wellton Hotels Riga – 25% discount

• Promo code: SMARTRIGA2026

The code provides discount from the best available online rate at the time of booking and applies to the following three Wellton hotels in Riga Old Town:

• Wellton Riverside SPA Hotel

• Wellton Centrum Hotel & SPA

• Wellton Riga Hotel & SPA

The offer is valid for stays between 15–19 September 2026. Reservations can be made via the Welcome to Wellton Hotels! – Wellton Hotels, Riga using the promo code SMARTRIGA2026, or by contacting [email protected].

2. Hilton Garden Inn Riga Old Town – 15% discount

• Promo code: VPK26

The code provides discount for stays between 16–18 September 2026. To make a reservation, please send a booking request to [email protected], mentioning the promo code VPK26.

All of these hotels are conveniently located in or next to Riga Old Town, with good access to the conference locations.

Smart Cities Conference 2026: Day 0 | 16 September 2026 (upon invitation only)

As part of Smart Cities Conference 2026, a special pre-conference programme will be organised for a limited number of invited participants. The programme will include visits to smart city and mobility pilot projects in Riga, demonstrations of urban development and technologies, thematic workshops on autonomous transport, digital twins, public sector innovation and mobility challenges, as well as an informal networking event at Startup House Riga.

The Day 0 programme is coordinated by:
Ivita Mauriņa
Senior Project Manager, Riga City Municipality
[email protected]

If you have any questions about the conference, please do not hesitate to contact Evita Jaunozola ([email protected])!