Smart City Morocco: A Roadmap for Resilient, Inclusive, and Tech-Driven African Cities
Marrakech – From May 21 to 23, Morocco hosted Smart City Morocco RoadShow & Expo 2025/2030, a pivotal event in the journey toward smart, sustainable urban development.
Jointly organized by Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique (UM6P), Casa Events & Animation, and the FIWARE Foundation, the initiative marked a dynamic convergence of innovation, research, and collaboration, driving forward the transformation of Moroccan and African cities.
Held across Casablanca, Rabat, and Benguerir, this mobile forum served as a platform for cross-sector dialogue, technological demonstration, and inclusive policymaking.
In alignment with the aspirations of King Mohammed VI, the event embraced the vision of resilient, connected, and equitable urban environments, all while preparing for the global spotlight of the FIFA World Cup 2030, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.
The RoadShow kicked off in Casablanca with the 9th edition of Casablanca Smart City, themed “Smart NexGen Cities: Innover pour une métropole durable et inclusive.”
Reinforcing Morocco’s role as a continental hub for smart city innovation
This edition spotlighted smart mobility, large-scale infrastructure management, and civic participation. Two standout initiatives — the Casablanca Smart City Hackathon and the Village des Startups — provided fertile ground for entrepreneurs, developers, and innovators to propose and showcase solutions aimed at enhancing urban life.
Rabat took center stage for the FIWARE Global Summit, hosted for the first time outside the European Union.
Taking place on UM6P’s Rabat campus, this segment welcomed tech leaders from companies such as Telefonica, AWS, NEC, Mitsubishi Electronics, Red Hat, and Libelium, alongside international delegations.
Discussions focused on Open Source standards, digital interoperability, cybersecurity, and AI applications in public governance, reinforcing Morocco’s role as a continental hub for smart city innovation.
The RoadShow culminated in Benguerir with the African Smart Cities Forum, a gathering of policymakers, academics, and urban practitioners.
The forum addressed structural transformation, youth employability, public-private-citizen investment models, and digital equity.
Welcoming participants to the final stage, the President of UM6P delivered a forward-looking keynote, encapsulating the event’s vision.“This Roadshow was conceived as a space for d
He highlighted UM6P’s role as a bridge between scientific research and societal impact, underlining the importance of projects like the Digital Twin Smart Campus @UM6P, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, Dell, and Akila.
Need for bottom-up collaboration
In a significant policy-oriented intervention during the closing ceremony in Benguerir, Younes Sekkouri, Morocco’s Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment, and Skills, called for smart cities to become a national and local governance priority.
He emphasized the importance of bottom-up collaboration involving NGOs, corporations, startups, and institutions, noting that integrating smart city strategies into formal policy frameworks is crucial for unlocking long-term resources and impact.
As Morocco prepares to introduce a new labor code supporting remote work and flexible employment, the Minister positioned smart cities as critical enablers of a more adaptive and inclusive labor ecosystem.
The Smart City Morocco RoadShow & Expo 2025/2030 embodied a powerful message: the future of African cities must be co-created through inclusive governance, interdisciplinary collaboration, and grounded technological innovation.
With institutions like UM6P and committed policymakers like Minister Sekkouri at the helm, Morocco is not just preparing for global events; it is laying the foundation for a new, citizen-centered urban era.
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