On November 14, 2025, as part of Science and Technology Week, a guest lecture by Igor Wzoš, M.A., Chairman of the Board of the Slovak Smart City Cluster, was held at the Faculty of Public Administration of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. During the lecture titled “Smart City: A Fad or an Opportunity?”, students learned that: A Smart City is a wise, sensible, and intelligent city or region that is ingeniously interconnected. The word SMART is also interpreted as: S – self-sufficient, M – modern, A – active, R – reasonable, and T – creative.
Key challenges for the 21st century include the digital revolution, the Internet of Things, robotization, blockchain technology, electromobility, and environmental issues. Current challenges also include demographic changes, artificial intelligence, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine. Local governments should respond to demographic changes, for example, by supporting flexible urban planning (the use of zones by different generations) and participation and inclusion (involving all age groups in decision-making). Technology must be viewed as a bridge, not a barrier—smart solutions must be understandable even to seniors. Behavioral innovations apply insights from behavioral science to system design so that they better account for human behavior and decision-making. An example is Nudge theory (gentle encouragement toward better decisions without restricting freedom of choice), which can also be applied in the field of energy conservation.
At the same time, Mgr. Igor Wzoš and Mgr. Ľubica Otčenášová, project manager of the Slovak Smart City Cluster, met with the dean of the faculty, doc. JUDr. Mgr. Michal Jesenko, PhD., to discuss future collaboration on the preparation of projects in educational and expert activities.
Thank you for your active participation and the fruitful discussion.
