Belfast has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mastercard to become the latest member of its new ‘City Possible‘ programme.

Our city is now part of a new global network of cities and industry partners that have been brought together by Mastercard to help solve system-wide urban challenges. During 2019 Belfast is seeking to work with the programme partners on the city’s hugely ambitious plans to develop a globally significant smart district.

Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Deirdre Hargey, welcomed the initiative:

“As Belfast builds on its growing reputation as a centre of digital innovation, Belfast City Council is delighted to join the City Possible programme. Our city is embarking on an exciting journey to invest further in our digital foundations. At the same time we’re fostering innovative partnerships with our universities and the private sector to prepare our communities and our economy for the opportunities represented by new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and 5G. As a proud member of City Possible we are looking forward to sharing our story and learning from others.”

She added: City Possible‘s ambitions align well with our own Smart Belfast framework which seeks to harness innovation, technology and data science to support great products and services while at the same time tackling urban policy challenges.”

 

City Possible is a new model of public-private partnerships that brings together cities with a united private sector to solve system-wide challenges. By co-developing, piloting and scaling solutions, it strengthens the new triple bottom line: people, cities and businesses.