How resilient are cities in the face of crises? How do they manage security, transport, energy, governance, or climate change? Cities are implementing innovative solutions to ensure their survival and maintain prospects for future development. Come and discover inspiring examples of urban innovation at the URBIS – The Smart Cities Meetup, taking place from 2–4 June at the Brno Exhibition Centre.
The event, organized by Veletrhy Brno in cooperation with the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade and other partners, brings together representatives of public administration, institutions, innovative companies, and the general public every year. This year, URBIS will be held in Hall V, featuring two diagonally positioned stages surrounded by exhibitor stands from companies, cities, and institutions. An outdoor exhibition area showcasing technologies for cities and municipalities will also be part of the event.
Over the years, URBIS has evolved from a purely trade fair activity into a conference platform for exchanging experiences with other cities and exploring examples of smart technologies for municipalities. More than 100 speakers are ready to share their project experiences. The first day will focus on key strategic topics such as the future of metropolitan areas and urban planning. Visitors will once again be able to observe student teams participating in HackaTEEN, a 24-hour hackathon dedicated to proposing smart solutions for real cities.
The second day will focus on digital innovation, agile project piloting, the ENoLL Living Labs concept, and the experiences of police forces. Exclusive data from the Ministry of the Interior will be presented, showing how municipalities in the Czech Republic use security technologies. The third day will feature pilot mobility projects, reuse centres, financial instruments, energy solutions, 5G projects, and solutions for urban greenery and water management.
Brno appears at URBIS not only as the host city, but above all as an active leader and co-creator of the event’s content. It also serves as a living laboratory for innovation, where many solutions can be tested and developed in a real urban environment. By emphasizing the smart city agenda, Brno has been strengthening its long-term strategic development.
This year, Brno will present itself for the first time in a joint exhibition together with its municipal companies.
A Beehive as a Parallel to a Smart City
How does a smart city work? Not as a collection of individual technologies, but as a thoughtfully designed whole in which entities operating in transport, energy, waste management, water services, data, and urban infrastructure cooperate.
The ambition of Brno’s participation this year is therefore to ensure stronger and more coordinated involvement of municipal companies in both the exhibition and the accompanying programme. Covering more than 400 square metres, the joint exhibition will feature Teplárny Brno, Brněnské komunikace, Technické sítě Brno, Dopravní podnik města Brna, SAKO Brno, and Brněnské vodárny a kanalizace. The Bee Smart concept uses the graphic motif of a honeycomb to symbolize the importance of cooperation, which characterizes a smart city where organizations, expertise, and competencies complement one another and together form a functional whole.
Examples of Smart Solutions
The exhibition will offer concrete examples of smart solutions that affect everyday urban life. Visitors will learn about projects and initiatives such as Brno iD, data.Brno, data from the Brno Metropolitan Area, as well as projects related to environmental protection and smart mobility.
Teplárny Brno will present the city’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure. By 2030, the company plans to build at least 500 charging stations and expand a network of charging hubs throughout the city, significantly improving the availability and convenience of charging in the coming years.
Brněnské komunikace will showcase solutions such as priority access for emergency services through retractable bollards in the city centre and adaptive traffic signal control within the Smart Brno-South project. A model of the new railway station will also be displayed.
SAKO Brno will demonstrate how waste is transformed into energy. Every year, the company converts approximately 250,000 tonnes of waste into heat and electricity.
Technické sítě Brno will bring an inflatable model of a secondary utility tunnel and its autonomous robot Hugo. Dopravní podnik města Brna will present the DPMBINFO application, while Brněnské vodárny a kanalizace will showcase smart water meters, which are used to supply 94% of Brno’s water.
Brno will also contribute to the URBIS programme. On 2 June at 2:00 p.m., it will participate on Stage 1 in the session “Topics Shaping Cities in 2026.” The city is also organizing a workshop led by experts from the University of Leeds, entitled “Smart Data for Resilient Decision-Making,” focusing on the use of artificial intelligence in urban management. The workshop will take place on Wednesday, 3 June at 2:00 p.m. in the Archimedes multimedia classroom.
Brno’s active involvement in URBIS strengthens the city’s image as a centre of innovation, open dialogue, and modern governance.
More information about URBIS 2026, including the complete programme and speaker profiles, is available at bvv.cz/urbis.
Don’t hesitate to secure your tickets at For Visitors | BVV EN.
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