The United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative is a UN initiative supported by 17 UN agencies and programmes to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 11: "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable." The U4SSC serves as the global platform to advocate for public policy and to encourage the use of ICTs to facilitate and ease the transition to smart sustainable cities. 
    
Objectives
The main objectives of the meeting were to:

• Discuss U4SSC activities;
• Provide an update on the work of the U4SSC thematic groups;
• Approve the U4SSC Terms of References and Annual Work Plan (2021-2022); and
• Present the latest U4SSC deliverables. ​

Programme

10:00 - 10:15​	​Opening Remarks Malcolm Johnson​, Deputy Secretary-General, ITU [​ Speech ​] Dmitry Mariyasin​, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNECE ​Raf Tuts​, Director, Global Solutions Division, UN-Habitat Nasser Saleh Al Marzouqi, Chairman of the U4SSC [ Speech​ ]
10:15 - 11:30​	​Session 1: Update on the work of the U4SSC thematic groups Moderator: Tania Marcos, Vice Chairman of the U4SSC Speakers: Ramon Ferri, Leader of the Thematic Group on City Platforms [ Presentation ]​​ ​Martin Brynskov, Leader of Working Group 3 of the Thematic Group on City Platforms [ Presentation ] Alberto Bernal​, Leader of Working Group 4 of the Thematic Group on City Platforms [ Presentation ] Gulnara Roll​, Leader of the Thematic Group on Economic and financial recovery in cities and urban resilience building in the time of COVID-19 and the Thematic Group on Innovative Financing Instruments for Smart Sustainable Cities [ Presentation ] ​ Okan Geray​​, Leader of the Thematic Group on Guiding principles for artificial intelligence in cities [ Presentation ] Warren Smith​ and John Davies​, Leaders of the Thematic Group on Procurement Guidelines for Smart Sustainable Cities​​ [ Presentation ] Questions & Answers
11:30 - 11:35​	​Coffee break​
​11:35 - 13:00	​Session 2: Latest U4SSC deliverables    Moderator: Giampiero Bambagioni​, Vice Chairman of the U4SSC  Speakers: Gulnara Roll, Secretary to the Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management, UNECE and Leader of the Thematic Group on Economic and financial recovery in cities and urban resilience building in the time of COVID-19 “U4SSC deliverable on Guidelines on tools and mechanisms to finance smart sustainable cities projects"  [ Presentation ] Judy Backhouse​, Senior Academic Fellow, UNU-EGOV and Leader​​ of the Thematic Group on Simple ways to be smart “U4SSC deliverable on Simple ways to be smart"  [ Presentation ] Ramon Ferri, Leader of the Thematic Group on City Platforms and Working Group 1, “U4SSC deliverable on Digital solutions for integrated city management and use cases" and “U4SSC deliverable on Compendium of survey results on integrated digital solutions for city platforms around the world"  [ Presentation ] Leonidas Anthopoulos​, Leader of Working Group 2 of the Thematic Group on City Platforms, “U4SSC deliverable on Smart public health emergency management and ICT implementations"  [ Presentation ]​  ​ ​Questions & Answers
13:00 - 14:00​	Lunch Break
14:00 - 14:30​	​Session 3: U4SSC Implementation Programme and U4SSC Hub Moderator: Paolo Gemma​, Vice Chairman of the U4SSC Speakers: Cristina Bueti​, U4SSC Secretariat on behalf of Kari Eik​, Leader of the U4SSC Implementation Programme  Barbara Kolm​, Director, Austrian Economics Center & Vice President, Austrian National Bank ​Questions & Answers
14:30 - 15:20​	​Session 4: U4SSC Terms of References and Annual Work Plan 2021-2022 Moderator: Cristina Bueti​, U4SSC Secretariat  [ Presenta​tion​​ ] ​ Speakers: Gulnara Roll, U4SSC Secretariat​ [ U4SSC ToR ] [ Presentation​ ] Robert Lewis-Lettin​gton​​, U4SSC Secretariat [​​ U4SSC Action Plan ]​ ​Questions & Answers
15:20 - 15:25​	AOB
15:25 - 15:30 ​	Closing Remarks Nasser Saleh Al Marzouqi​, Chairman of the U4SSC [ Speech​ ]

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