Within the scope of the "economic diplomacy" and promotion of multilateral economic cooperation by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Czech Embassy together with the Union of Turkish Municipalities (TBB), organized “Smart Cities” Conference on 12^th October, 2020 in Ankara. Some well-known and significant Czech names have attended the conference to share their experiences with the representatives of Turkish Metropolitan Municipalities. 

Keynote speech was given by Prof. Miroslav Svítek from CVUT University, who is also the president of the "Czech Smart City Cluster". Jaromír Beránek, Head of Smart Cities and IT department at the Prague City Hall was another well-known speaker. Prof. Svitek talked about the technologies used in the field of smart cities and mentioned prominent developments in both Czech Republic and the world. The opportunity to pursue a master's degree in the field of Smart Cities at the CVUT University to which the professor is affiliated and the Texas El Paso University was interesting for Turkish participants. With the presentation of J. Beránek, Smart City applications were introduced to metropolitan representatives more closely. At the beginning of the conference, the new Ambassador of the Czech Republic, H.E. Pavel Vacek, also gave a welcome speech.

Turkish side was represented by İsmail Tüzgen, General Director of Geographic Information Systems of Ministry of Environment, Dr. Birol Ekici, General Secretary of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey, Fatma Şahin, President of  the Union  and Mayor of Gaziantep and Prof. Şükrü Karatepe, Advisor to the President and Acting Chairman of Local Goverment Policies Board. In their speeches they all pointed out to the results taken by now and some future plans in Smart Cities field. They all stressed  the needs for cooperation and interest in the mentioned field and further contacts with Czech partners. 

On the same day after conference, a very fruitful meeting was held with representatives of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality at TBB facilities. While Cross Zlin, AŽD Praha and Incinity companies presented their technical capabilities and long standing experiences in the field of smart traffic control systems, another well-known company Aspiro, presented their consultancy services on EBRD loans and concrete solution in the field of data storage and its usage. The conference was followed by a trip of Czech companies to the cities of Kayseri, Gaziantep and Mersin.