Smart Villages Symposium explores the intersection between rural development and technology

The University of Guelph hosted the 2024 Smart Villages Symposium at the Arboretum Centre on October 2, 2024. This event explored how rural communities around world experience and use smart technologies, emphasizing the impact of new digital tools and technology and new modes of connectivity. It builds on three previous Smart Villages symposia held between 2017 and 2019, inspired by the PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) program conceived by India's late President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

This was the first Smart Village Symposium to take place since the global pandemic, and since the rise of new large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence. The presenters and panelists included representatives from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The event featured global speakers from India, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Canada, as well as faculty members, postdocs, and students from the University of Guelph. It included plenaries reflecting on the growth and evolution of the Smart Villages, and a series specialized panels on Smart Villages and Rural Communities, Smart Villages and Rural Business, Opportunities and Challenges of Smart Technologies, and Indigenous Communities and Smart Technology.

It was a full day of lively panel discussions, presentations, and networking opportunities. This event was made possible thanks to the support of the Canada India Foundation and Dr. V.I. Lakshmanan, for which we are deeply grateful. We look forward to hosting thematically focused Smart Villages workshops in the coming years.