The city of A Coruña is, since this Monday, the epicenter of the Opening Site Visit for the European technological innovation project Allocate. The event, which will last until tomorrow, brings together the cities associated with the project -Viana do Castelo, Heidelberg, and Reggio Emilia- with the execution partners: the UDC, the Clúster TIC, Altia, and Khora Urban Consulting, as well as representatives from the European Urban Initiative and other participants.
The technical conference, taking place at the Ciudad de las TIC, allows participating cities to learn in detail about the work carried out during the first year of Allocate, their own challenges, and to begin analyzing which elements of the A Coruña model can be transferred to their urban contexts. The first deputy mayor and councilor for Economy and Strategic Planning, José Manuel Lage, welcomed the attendees, highlighting that "the true value of a European project lies in its capacity to generate knowledge" and emphasized A Coruña's technological ecosystem.
The event aims to create synergies for generating new ideas and collaborative relationships between cities. The agenda combines the presentation of the project and the challenges of the participating cities with demonstrations, technical visits, and specific work sessions on transfer. Today, the main advances of Allocate during its first year are presented, along with the challenges of the partner European cities and the design of the Local Computing Community infrastructure. Training aimed at local ICT companies is also highlighted, with a course on green and ethical AI set to begin on November 17th. The registration deadline is November 10th via the project's website.
Allocate has an investment of 5.5 million euros, of which 4.4 million come from the ERDF, within the framework of the third call of the European Urban Initiative, while the remaining 1.1 million correspond to the municipal contribution.
A central part of the meeting will be the Give & Take Marketplace, where Viana do Castelo, Heidelberg, and Reggio Emilia will learn about the solutions developed in Allocate and share their own experiences. The work will focus on the Local Computing Community, the development of AI solutions for mobility, citizen services, and waste management, and the application of green, ethical, and responsible artificial intelligence.
The final day, Wednesday, November 11th, will be specifically dedicated to the transfer process, where partners will work on a roadmap outlining the milestones and activities to be developed throughout the project's lifecycle. The Opening Site Visit thus positions A Coruña as the starting point for a shared learning process, fostering joint reflection on the application of green and ethical artificial intelligence to urban challenges.
