Technological Revolution of Local Government – the Solution for Living alongside Covid-19

 

Muni-Expo 2021 gets underway with Israeli and foreign mayors, ministers, leaders of the economy and senior officials in the field of urban innovation expected to attend at the Expo Tel Aviv site

 

The expo be attended by President Yitzhak Herzog; Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, former Prime Minister and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Alternate Prime Minister, Yair Lapid; Ministers Ayelet Shaked, Gideon Sa’ar, Orna Barbivai, Merav Michaeli and Pnina Tamanu-Shata; Governor of the Bank of Israel, Amir Yaron; leading heads of local authorities in Israel, and many others. 

 

Living with Covid-19 meets municipal innovation at Muni-Expo 2021, which  be held at Expo Tel Aviv for the fifth year. The Expo, which will take place between October 20-21, is a meeting place and fertile ground for collaboration with Israeli local government, for over 8,000 participants annually. This year, the Expo, which will strictly comply with the Green Pass guidelines, will provide an opportunity to examine the new routine in the shadow of Covid-19, its impact on the local and national arena, and the challenges and possibilities facing us in this period.

 

Haim Bibas, Chairman of the Federation of Local Authorities and Mayor of Modi’in-Maccabim-Re’ut,: “In the last two years, the entire world has experienced a tremendous upheaval due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected the lives of millions of people across the globe. This year, the expo emphasizes the unprecedented resilience of local government to give the country’s citizens the security and peace of mind that routine life is being maintained alongside Covid-19. Our objective is to make the lives of the residents better, to bring about a reduction in gaps and improve ongoing services to residents through municipal innovation, and to succeed in bringing technology to more and more local authorities...” 

 

This year more than ever, the heads of local authorities have proven they have the power and capability to manage this complex reality if given the tools to do so.  In order to manage differential policy, a strong government leadership is needed that believes in the power of local government as the body that manages the lives of the citizens on a daily basis.  

 

 

 

 

The annual conference will be attended by dozens of speakers from a range of areas related to the core activity of local authorities in Israel: Emergencies, ethics, digital transformation, economics, smart cities, energy, sports and culture, transportation, society, etc. In addition, the annual urban innovation fair will have over 100 exhibitors in all areas of urban management. Among this year’s exhibitors are Mobileye, Ariel Medic, Abura, Rolan, IEC, Hyper-Tech Advanced Systems, Deep Seek, Milgam, BSY, Nisko, viisight, Motorola, Matrix, and over a hundred more exhibitors will improve the quality of life of the residents in the coming years in all areas of municipal management as well as innovative cyber protection measure and dealing with emergencies.  Startups, the Local Government Economic Services Company, various government ministries and Mifal Hapais will also exhibit at the Expo.

 

There will be several professional sessions during Muni-Expo 2021 in areas related to the daily life of each and every one of us. The sessions include: Municipal Management in the Pandemic Period and Shaping the New Routine, the Digital Springboard Created by Covid-19, Heavy Traffic and Means of Solving Huge Traffic Jams, Controversies between the Parts of Israeli Society, How the Cultural Industry Deals with the Corona Crisis, Leadership in the Present Israeli Reality, and more.

 

Furthermore, the Muni World 2021 International Conference of the Muni-Expo Innovation Fair will be held in a hybrid format this year to allow all participants to take part. The following issues will be addressed: What can be learned from the campaigns initiated by Israeli local authorities to deal with Covid-19, how local authorities overcome xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism, and the 2022 challenges round the corner and how local authorities should prepare for them properly.

 

MuniTech: Israel’s Smart Cities Community will be launched at Muni-Expo 2021 in the presence of the Minister of Economy, Orna Barbivai, the Ministries of Economy and the Interior, Digital Israel and Israel Innovation Authority, and will be run by the Federation of Local Authorities and Bar-Ilan University. 

 

During the launch, a central plenum and sessions of professional committees will deal with connecting the components of the local ecosystem to assist in promoting the field of smart cities with the local authorities. The professional session and meetings will be the opening of activities of the community, which will regularly assist technology companies in the field to promote enabling policy and create a platform for raising resources for the benefit of the community.

 

The launch will take place on Thursday, October 21, from 09:00 am.

 

 Photo   Silvia Golan