Day 1
November 18, 2025

SMART CITY FORUM & SECURITY OF POLAND CONGRESS – TOTAL SECURITY

INAUGURAL BLOCK: SECURITY STRATEGY, CONNECTIVITY AND DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Introduction to the Congress / Panel of Generals

• The network of influence and decisions in the global national security landscape and the role of the National Security Strategy
• What kind of war are we preparing for?
• Current organisational aspects of state security and defence leadership
• NATO transformation (recent transition) and its current impact on national security and defense policy
• Concepts for change in US security and defense strategy
• Risks and changes in Poland’s security and defense environment

Debate

• Poland’s digitisation and cyber security strategy – how to build the country’s long-term resilience to disruptions and attacks?
• State models for secure satellite communications (sovereignty vs. efficiency)
• Application of satellites in military and civilian communication systems – guidelines and recommendations
• Security and technological sovereignty – how should a state invest in building its own critical communications infrastructure?
• Standards, interoperability and recommendations – what should be the role of the State in creating communication and connectivity standards in cities?
• Infrastructure resilience to cyber threats – blackouts, communications disruptions, attacks

Debate

• Reference infrastructure – how to ensure that upgrades are well coordinated with the city’s overall infrastructure, meet real needs, and take into account long-term development
• Who should be in charge of smart city infrastructure guidelines and how to ensure operability, communication standards, adaptation, openness and accessibility of systems
• Who should hold the reins on smart infrastructure – local government or business?
• Communications systems – 5G network capabilities in cities – mission-critical communications systems, MCX systems
• Autonomy of algorithms vs. human role in decision-making
• Modern construction – safety standards and requirements for defense adaptation
• Key elements from the Law on Civil Protection and Civil Defence
• Bunkers, shelters, hiding places – how should cities prepare infrastructure for emergencies?

Speakers:

• Konrad Fijołek, Mayor of Rzeszów
• Marcin Pabierowski, Mayor of Zielona Góra
• Anna Streżyńska, Director of the Institute of Communications – National Research Institute*
• Grzegorz Wawryniuk, Director of Product and Marketing Office, EXATEL 
• Paweł Niedzielski, Sales Director, Nokia Solutions and Networks 
• Przemysław Gęsiak, Team Manager for Plus MCX Network, Polkomtel 
• Mirosława Kaźmierowska, CGO/Director of Sustainability, URBANOVA.Group

Moderator:

• Karol Tokarczyk, Digital Economy Analyst, Polityka Insight

SMART CITY FORUM

BLOCK: INFRASTRUCTURE AND URBAN SPACE PLANNING

Debate

• Opportunities for dynamic, adaptive planning – can we plan infrastructure in real time?
• “City on the map or city in the data?” – Chief Sanitary Inspectorate vs. classic local plans
• Reference infrastructure – how to ensure that upgrades are well coordinated with the city’s overall infrastructure, meet real needs, and take into account long-term development
• Integration of installations with urban plans – how to design infrastructure to be consistent with urban planning and the energy system?
• The potential of the digital twin – why aren’t all TSUs taking advantage of it?
• How can statutory procedures be reconciled with the expectation of dynamic change?

Speakers:

• Krystian Kinastowski, Mayor of the City of Kalisz
• Tomasz Miśko, Deputy Mayor of Stalowa Wola
  
• Jarosław Flakowski Ph.D., Deputy Mayor of the City of Zielona Góra
• Artur Szymczyk, Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of Lublin for Sustainable Development and President of MPWiK in Lublin
  
• Robert Bednarski,Director of Smart City, Wrocław City Hall
  
• Ewelina Włoch,Department of Digitization and New Technologies, Rybnik City Hall
  
• Michał Macewicz, Sales Director for Road Lighting, LENA Lighting*

Moderator:

• Magdalena Bartnik,Deputy Director of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Kraków City Hall
  

Case study

• Patryk Jaskuła, GeoIntelligence Sales Business Development Manager Space Digital, Airbus Defence & Space 

BLOCK: EXCEL IS NO LONGER ENOUGH – DATA MANAGEMENT CITY

Case study

Case study

Debate

• Data management and performance reporting for TSU – how is the role of the official changing in the era of data-driven infrastructure? Is the official of the future a data analyst?
• Are offices today able to interpret data and act on it?
• Data center investment and redundancy – how to ensure the reliability of digital infrastructure in cities?
• Building a local government data warehouse and integrating data from different municipal systems, common reporting standards and benchmarks between municipalities, is it possible?
• API standardisation – how to ensure compatibility and interoperability of city systems and facilitate data exchange between different platforms and government entities
• Vendor lock – how to avoid making cities dependent on a single technology provider

Speakers:

• Magdalena Cieślik, Deputy Mayor of Sopot
  
• Małgorzata Czaja,Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of Gdynia for Open Data, Gdynia City Hall
  
• Olaf Osica, Director of the Strategy and Analysis Office, City of Warsaw Hall* 
• Rafał Porada, Head of the IT Office, Przemyśl City Hall
• prof. Andrzej Szarata, Ph.D., Rector, Krakow University of Technology

Moderator:

• Grzegorz Szczuka, Director, Gdańsk Shared Services Center