Reddi at Smart City Expo Cali 2026: Bio-intelligent cities, innovation for life
On September 30 and October 1, Cali was the setting for conversations about the future of cities, sustainability, biodiversity, urban transformation and public innovation.
The meeting aimed to broaden our understanding of a smart city. The conversation is no longer solely about sensors, data, automation, or digital infrastructure, but also about the capacity of territories to integrate technology, nature, and knowledge to generate well-being, resilience, and new opportunities for their communities.
In addition, during the event, some of the major plans that project the transformation of Cali were revealed, including Cali CityLab, an initiative that demonstrates how the city seeks to consolidate new spaces to experiment, connect capabilities and advance in solutions aimed at responding to the challenges of the territory.
Talking about bio-intelligent cities from Cali has a special meaning.
Its relationship with the Farallones, its rivers, basins, rural areas and biodiversity makes the city a territory where urban challenges coexist directly with an enormous natural heritage.
In this context, Smart City Expo Cali opened a necessary conversation about how biodiversity can become a central focus of urban planning and how innovation can contribute to challenges related to mobility, sustainability, environmental management, public services and quality of life.
But moving towards more sustainable cities requires more than just incorporating new technologies. It requires connecting capabilities.
Maria Fernanda Meneses – Business Analyst at Reddi;
Angela Castro – Project Manager at Reddi;
Juan Manuel Chaves – Manager at Reddi;
Diana Lopez – Commercial Manager at Reddi;
Yuly Patiño – Administrative Assistant at Reddi
At Reddi, we accompany this conversation with a clear vision: science, technology, and innovation generate real impact when knowledge connects with the real challenges of society.
The cities of the future are not built solely by acquiring technological solutions. They are built by creating connections between universities, businesses, startups, public institutions, researchers, and communities capable of understanding the challenges of the territory and developing relevant responses.
Indeed, one of Reddi’s main capabilities is to bring together these different actors and connect scientific and technological capabilities with real needs in the environment.
Three lessons learned to promote truly smart cities
Juan Manuel Chaves, general manager of Reddi, participated in the panel “Beyond buying technology: how smart cities drive Govtech ecosystems”, a space to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing public innovation.
The conversation yielded three key ideas:
1. The public challenge must come before technology.
Innovation doesn’t mean starting by asking what technology we can implement, but rather what problem we need to solve. Technology acquires value when it responds to a specific need of people and the region.
2. Innovation needs coordination.
Urban challenges are too complex to be solved by a single actor. Government, academia, businesses, startups, researchers, and citizens need to come together, share capabilities, and build solutions jointly.
3. Govtech must connect the needs of the State with the capabilities of the innovative sector.
More than simply incorporating digital tools, the true potential of Govtech lies in creating mechanisms that allow us to identify public challenges and connect them with those who have the knowledge, technology, and capabilities to solve them. At Reddi, we work precisely at this point of convergence.
Because the cities of the future don’t just need more technology. They need better connections.
