Madrid, Spain — At the Govtech 4 Impact World Congress 2026, the first Mayors` Leadership Forum took place, where governmental leaders from across Europe and the United States joined forces to define the moonshot for GovTech: starting with citizens in the centre, a coordinated, market-shaping approach that positions cities and regions as active market shapers in the global GovTech industry.
Together with the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) and the European Commission, the result is the GovTech Manifesto and action plan — a shared vision to realise the green, digital and social transformation for cities and regions through GovTech.
The Manifesto focuses on breakthrough interventions to accelerate the GovTech market, in which the Digital Transformations support the societal challenges of citizens and communities. Grasping the full potential of emerging technologies while safeguarding the public interest.
By working on shared solutions for societal challenges and aligning demand through open standards and building capabilities across governance levels, the coalition aims to unlock public purchasing power, shared investment and turn governments from buyers into active market shapers — driving economic growth, climate-positive outcomes and meaningful value for citizens.
In times of rapid change and growing societal challenges, cities and regions should serve as trusted anchors for their citizens,“ says Rian van Dam, one of the leaders behind the Manifesto. “As soon as you think you know the answer, they change the question. That is why cities & regions must step up — as places where people, nature and democratic values are at the centre of every decision and define the questions of tomorrow.”
The Mayors’ Leadership Forum is intentionally built as a focused leadership coalition, bringing together Mayors, city leaders and institutional leaders committed to shaping direction and delivering impact.
Rooted in Europe and designed to scale globally, the initiative connects leading cities and institutions with shared instruments — procurement frameworks, funding mechanisms and innovation ecosystems such as European Digital Innovation Hubs and regulatory sandboxes — so that ambition can be translated into implementation.
“This is about building new, old cities for generations to come,” van Dam adds. “Places that learn, listen and adapt, and that take responsibility beyond individual mandates.”
The Manifesto serves as the foundation for a structured Action Plan, built on interconnected building blocks that will be put into action over the coming year, with the first wave of progress to be reported at the next edition of the Forum. Cities, regions and institutions are invited to join as co-shapers of a new GovTech ecosystem. “This is courageous leadership in action,” van Dam concludes. “This is the future the world deserves — starting in Europe and scaling globally.”
“This manifesto outlines the principles to enable the use of technological advances to deliver core services that are both people-centred and resource efficient. The outcomes will deliver a better quality of life for our citizens.”— Tony Dyer
The leader of Bristol said.
Europe doesn’t need more pilots — it needs shared infrastructures to scale innovation. That’s what Granada is building,”— Vito Episcopo, Deputy Mayor of Granada, added.
“In times of rapid change and growing societal challenges, cities should serve as trusted anchors for their citizens. Smart cities must always serve people first and must be trusted — using technology not for its own sake, but to help us live better, more connected and more sustainable lives with fewer resources. That is why I am proud to contribute to the shaping of this Manifesto.”— Matjaž Rakovec, Mayor of the City of Kranj, Slovenia.
“GovTech 4 Impact demonstrates what is possible when global leaders move beyond dialogue and focus on execution, partnership, and meaningful public impact.
The U.S. Roundtable is proud to help ensure U.S. Mayors are represented at the global table, amplifying their voice while connecting transformative innovation, AI and trusted technology collaboration to the communities and families that need it most.”— George Burciaga, Managing Partner, The U.S. Roundtable, LLC.
“Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard is honoured to join global leaders at the GovTech 4 Impact World Congress and contribute to shaping a shared GovTech Manifesto. Mount Vernon is also advancing this work through Elevate Gov AI with the U.S. Mayors Roundtable. Across continents and cities of all sizes, we share a common challenge: using technology to make government more efficient, responsive, and impactful. This requires reducing bureaucracy, accelerating innovation, and strengthening cross-sector partnerships to deliver real improvements in quality of life for our residents.”— Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, Mount Vernon, NY, USA.
