Seoul, June 17th, 2024 – At the World Cities Summit 2024, the WeGO Secretary General Jung Sook Park had a bilateral meeting with Her Excellency Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Special Envoy for Sustainable Urbanization and the Former Executive Director of UN-Habitat. H.E. Maimunah Mohd Sharif has a special friendship with WeGO, having served as the President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai (2011-2017) and the Mayor of Penang Island (2017-2018), both of which are WeGO member cities. During her tenure, she led various smart city initiatives in the Asia Pacific region. WeGO has had the pleasure of working with H.E. Maimunah since her tenure as the President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai, especially on “Smart street lights and traffic management System in Seberang Perai” as the beneficiary of WeGO’s feasibility study in 2016.

This time, WeGO introduced the Seoul Smart City Prize and invited H.E. Maimunah Mohd Sharif’s as a Steering Committee member for the prize, and H.E. Sharif expressed her full support for this initiative aimed at enhancing inclusiveness and human-centric urban environments.

“I would like to invite and encourage my fellow mayors and cities to join this initiative. This effort is not only about receiving awards and recognition, but about sharing smart urban solutions to address city challenges.”

While commenting on the human-centric focus of the prize, H.E. Maimunah Mohd Sharif further remarked, “I believe that smart cities should be for the people.”

With her esteemed involvement, WeGO aims to enhance the visibility and profile of the initiative, furthering its mission to drive innovation in urban development.

“We were thrilled to participate in the World Cities Summit 2024 and to engage in meaningful discussions with esteemed leaders like H.E. Maimunah Mohd Sharif,” said Jung Sook Park, Secretary-General of WeGO. “Her support and involvement strengthen our commitment to promoting sustainable and innovative urban solutions worldwide.”

The Seoul Smart City Prize continues to be a beacon of innovation and collaboration, showcasing best practices and successful case studies of human-centric smart city projects around the world.

H.E. Maimunah Mohd Sharif will join the Seoul Smart City Prize Ceremony on October 10 to celebrate the winners and together with WeGO, promote the importance of human centered smart city and digital inclusion to the world.