Sustainable AI for Sustainable Smart Cities, Lybomir Gotsev, Mariyan Familiyanov

Sustainable AI for Sustainable Smart Cities” explores how AI, edge computing, and research infrastructures such as FIWARE (used by ExcellCity) can underpin climate-neutral, resilient, and citizen-centred urban environments. The ExcellCity project aims to raise research & innovation excellence at the University of Library Studies and Information Technology (ULSIT) and local partners, to build smart city capacities in climate-neutral and smart urban development.

The presentation will cover how sustainable AI in smart city settings can optimize resource use (energy, water, mobility), improve environmental monitoring, support participatory services, and reduce carbon footprints. Key enablers include distributed / edge architectures, interoperable platforms, and scalable infrastructure as promoted through ExcellCity’s twinning with EU-level counterparts. Challenges addressed include ensuring data interoperability, ethical AI usage, environmental costs of computation, privacy, and equity in access. The talk will also present a roadmap for research and applied innovation, drawing on fields such as exposomics, digital twins, and AI-driven environmental sensing. Attendees will gain insights for academia, industry, and municipalities on aligning sustainable AI development with smart city policy goals, accelerating capacity building, and embedding ethical, socially inclusive, and climate-aware frameworks into urban AI ecosystems