Large events are no longer planned just to welcome thousands of people for a few days. Increasingly, they become spaces for testing technologies that can also be applied in cities, especially in areas such as mobility, monitoring, accessibility and sustainability. At the end of June, Beto Marcelino, founder and chairman of the Board of the iCities Group, an innovation hub for smart cities based in Curitiba, followed, in Lisbon, an initiative that used a large festival with more than 100 thousand people as a test environment for solutions aimed at urban spaces. "I saw that it is possible to take the concept of smart cities to a place that hosts almost 100 thousand people on an event day. You have all the problems that a city faces: logistics, security, high temperatures, climate, and the issue of moving in a more orderly way in search of food, drinks, bathrooms and even hygiene products", says Marcelino. Beto Marcelino, founder and Chairman of the Board of the iCities Group. Disclosure/iCities. From experience to planning The initiative brought together 13 startups and technology companies to present distributed solutions in different areas. These included tools to guide visitors about queues and available services, environmental monitoring systems, real-time data integration, mobility management, recycling and resources aimed at accessibility. In the area of ??mobility, unused parking spaces were connected to the festival's mobility plan. In infrastructure management, data from all partners were integrated in real time, feeding a digital twin, a virtual replica capable of expanding the organization's view of what was happening in the physical space. “The monitoring center was interconnected, monitoring air quality, temperature and medical assistance”, reports Marcelino. This data integration also made it possible to manage the festival's bathroom flows and queues, with real-time capacity and waiting time information available to participants. On the accessibility and sustainability fronts, the event featured recycling solutions and spaces designed for specific audiences. “Two solutions were designed for people with disabilities, in very noble areas: an area for PwD and also an area for people with autism”, he adds. According to him, this entire structure represents an opportunity to test solutions with evaluation from the event users themselves. “Several solutions were made available at the event, which can be transferred to cities”, he highlights. A 2023 study from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands tracked 31 innovation projects tested during a festival. The results showed that 51.6% of the initiatives managed to advance to the testing, market application or commercialization phases. Among the prototypes validated with the public were solutions such as using electric car batteries to power music stages, decentralized payment systems via blockchain and high-capacity batteries designed to replace diesel generators. In addition to accelerating startups, these tests provide data for crowd management. “I believe that the legacy of a thought remains in the person who is there as a spectator: to have a better quality of life not only in terms of music and entertainment, but also a citizen's perspective”, highlights Beto. In Brazil, this concept has also been incorporated into events aimed at discussing smart cities. Produced by iCities, Smart City Expo Curitiba, the largest event on the subject in the Americas, annually brings together solutions and initiatives that can be adapted to the reality of municipalities. In this year's edition, held in March, experiences related to electromobility, intelligent signage, security and warning totems to prevent crimes, integration of public bodies and application of environmental, social and governance criteria in urban planning and management were presented, among other proposals aimed at improving the quality of life in cities. "iCities is a pioneering brand, the first company in Brazil to raise the flag for smart cities, to hold the first event on the topic in the country and then bring internationalization, taking Brazil also to Europe, to the Barcelona events. I believe that Brazil's participation, through iCities, is natural in events that involve the theme of smart cities", concludes Marcelino. About the iCities Group The iCities Group is a Brazilian holding company dedicated to driving the transformation of cities through innovation, technology and coordination between the public, private and academic sectors. With more than a decade of operation and headquartered in Curitiba (PR), the group is a national reference in the smart cities ecosystem and acts strategically to connect urban challenges to concrete and sustainable solutions. With a brand architecture that encompasses different areas of activity, iCities organizes events, promotes training programs, develops projects and strengthens collaboration networks across the country. With the approval of Fira Barcelona, ??it is responsible for holding notable events such as Smart City Expo Curitiba, IoT Solutions Congress Brasil and Tomorrow.Blue Economy, which is one of its main business verticals. The iCities Group acts as a catalyst for innovative solutions to contemporary urban challenges, by combining purpose, knowledge, business and impact to build smarter, more sustainable and people-centered cities.