Member Entities

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Its mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. UN-Habitat works with partners to build inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and communities. It promotes urbanization as a positive transformative force for people and communities, reducing inequality, discrimination and poverty; and provides technical assistance, policy advice, knowledge and capacity building to national and local governments in over 90 countries.

The United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology (UN-OICT) enables the United Nations Secretariat to deliver effectively on its mandates through the secure, responsible and innovative use of data, information and technology. It defines the strategic direction for information and communications technology (ICT) in the Organization, and it provides oversight of ICT policies, programmes, budgets and decision-making to ensure alignment with Secretariat priorities.

HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU) is a public university in Hamburg, Germany, focusing on architecture, civil engineering and urban planning. Within this collaboration, the role of HCU is to conduct basic and applied research related to data and technology for cities, with an emphasis on the deployment, testing, and evaluation of urban innovation. HCU, especially through the City Science Lab, in cooperation with MIT Media Lab, will bring in its expertise and experience in citizen engagement, computational science/simulation and data visualization as well as its local innovation ecosystem.