Digital technologies do not exist in emptiness – they have an enormous potential for positive change, but they can also strengthen and enlarge the existing errors and worsen the economic, social and other inequalities – note the authors of the UN Secretary General report “Roadmap for Digital Cooperation”.

The digital revolution will certainly affect the way cities are managed, and thus the lives of millions of people. New smart cities of the future will be planned and built using the possibilities of AI, modern technologies and completely new materials. The generation of today's teenagers will grow old in the digital realm. Our role is to ensure that digital transformation is fair, sustainable and non-exclusive, so as not to contribute to further degradation of nature and life quality "in real life".

It was also emphasized in the assumptions of the update of the National Urban Policy in Poland. Digitization as a major cross-sector trend affects all dimensions of sustainable urban development. Therefore, it should be conducted to ensure the common good, based on the values such as: inclusion, focus on people, and transparency.

Cities have a very significant role to play as they are inhabited by 60% of the inhabitants of Poland today. During the session, also taking into account the digital decade of Europe adopted by the European Commission in March 2021 (2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade), including inter alia safe internet environment:

1) the issue of cyber-secure cities will be discussed from the Polish, European (Tallin/Amsterdam/ENISA) and international (Malaysia, UN-Habitat) perspective,

2) the subject will be presented from a broad perspective – governmental, local government, international, business and IT solution providers,

3) the discussion will cover the multi-aspect approach to cybersecurity, in particular with regard to data, IT systems, as well as critical infrastructure systems essential for everyday life in urban space.

During the UN Digital Summit, we will consider together the following issues: - Does "smart" also mean “safe”? What opportunities and challenges are associated with digitization of city systems management (CYBERSECURITY); - How to make the cities of the future sustainable using AI (SUSTAINABLE DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT); - How to improve services for residents (banking, health care, offices, etc.), ensuring the right level of security (security and protection of personal / sensitive data of residents) CYBER CRIME; - How, also after the pandemics, have our patterns of behaviour and the way we work changed? At what stage of the digital revolution are we? What will the work model of the future look like and how will it affect the socio-economic environment, the functioning of cities and services? (SMART LIVING).

The subject of the panel will also be continued during the Eleventh Session of the World Urban Forum – WUF11, which is organized by the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy and the UN-Habitat, in 2022 in Katowice.