What it is
The OASC Conference is the yearly meeting of Open & Agile Smart Cities and Communities. OASC is a network of more than 150 cities and regions in over 30 countries, set up in 2015 to help local governments run their own digital transformation on open standards. The conference moves each year. Brussels hosted it in 2023, Rotterdam in 2024 and Tampere in 2025, where the theme was artificial intelligence. OASC says the conference’s subject has shifted over time. Early editions dealt with interoperability and its “minimal interoperability mechanisms” (MIMs). Recent ones deal with AI, data sovereignty and funding.
How the programme works
The 2026 edition was held in Fundão, Portugal, on 28 and 29 January. Its theme was digital transformation paid for by funded projects, from EU programmes such as Horizon Europe and Digital Europe to national and regional schemes. The programme follows a pattern that recurs. A morning of keynotes and panels is followed by a session introducing new OASC members. The afternoon is spent on site visits to the host’s own projects. Speakers came from city governments (Tampere, Rotterdam, Aarhus, Mechelen, Riga and others), research bodies, companies and the European Commission.
Who goes and how to take part
The audience is public administrators, policymakers, technologists and researchers, most of them from member cities. There are two ways to contribute to the next edition. OASC has an open call for deep-dive sessions at the 2027 conference, and a call for a city to host in 2028.
Why it matters for cities
The conference is built around one practical question: how a city can buy and build digital services that work with other cities’ systems, and how to pay for them. The 2026 focus on funding fits a common complaint, which OASC puts plainly: cities have good ideas for digital transformation but limited resources to carry them out.
Going, or following from home
The 2026 edition is over. OASC announced at Fundão that Aarhus, Denmark, will host next. The 2027 conference site gives 26-27 January 2027 at Dokk 1, under a theme of returning to “open” and “agile” as working values. Registration is open. We could not find the fee published in the site’s text.