The All Ireland Smart Cities Forum is a cross-border network that brings together municipalities, technology companies, research institutions, and community organisations from across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to collaborate on smart city development. Established to foster knowledge sharing and joint innovation between Irish cities and towns at various stages of smart city maturity, the forum provides a structured platform for peer learning, project collaboration, and collective advocacy.
The forum organises regular meetings, workshops, and study visits that enable municipal officials to share experiences, discuss common challenges, and explore collaborative approaches to technology procurement, data sharing, and citizen engagement. Topics addressed include intelligent transport systems, environmental monitoring, open data, digital public services, smart energy, and the governance frameworks needed to manage complex smart city programmes.
A distinctive feature of the All Ireland Smart Cities Forum is its inclusion of both urban and rural communities, recognising that smart technology applications are relevant across the full spectrum of settlement types, from major cities like Dublin, Cork, and Belfast to smaller towns and rural areas. The forum actively promotes the concept of 'smart communities' alongside smart cities, ensuring that digital innovation benefits are shared equitably across the island.
The forum also serves as a point of connection between Irish smart city practitioners and European networks, facilitating participation in EU-funded projects and knowledge exchange programmes. By creating a national community of practice around smart city development, the All Ireland Smart Cities Forum strengthens Ireland's collective capability to deploy urban innovation and positions the country as a collaborative leader in European smart city discourse.