{"id":8839,"date":"2026-09-03T16:31:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opiumsystems.sk\/?p=8839"},"modified":"2026-09-03T16:31:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:31:56","slug":"innovation-circus-conference-on-ai-for-local-governments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opiumsystems.sk\/en\/inovacny-cirkus-konferencia-o-ai-pre-samospravy\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation Circus in Local Government\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Public administration doesn't need another boring presentation; it needs courage and a bit of a show. With precisely this idea in mind, on August 25 and 26, 2026, we organized Innovation circus<\/a>, a conference that chose a theater stage instead of a boring speaker's podium. The main performance took place live on August 26 at the J\u00e1n Pal\u00e1rik Theater in Trnava, where the auditorium became a real stage for local governments for one day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of a pile of PowerPoints, mayors, lord mayors, and IT directors of cities and municipalities at our conference got a truly spectacular show\u2014a combination of keynotes, workshops, and a 24-hour hackathon where teams built live, functional prototypes right in the arena. The circus metaphor is not just a decoration for the poster. It's a way of saying out loud that Change in public administration can be done differently than through another directive.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big top was sold out even before the event, while participation<\/strong> finally reached 110 %<\/strong> originally planned capacity. The J\u00e1n Pal\u00e1rik Theatre was literally bursting at the seams, in the best possible sense of the word. For a conference focused on the digitalization of cities and municipalities\u2014a topic long considered marginal in the Slovak public space\u2014this is a strong signal in itself. At the same time, this is the largest conference on AI in public administration in Slovakia, and frankly, we are quite proud of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why now and why local governments?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towns and municipalities in Slovakia have been dealing with the same problem for a long time. Tasks are increasing, the number of people in offices is not, and the citizen expects that sorting something out at an office will be easier than before.<\/strong> We have been addressing this topic for a long time, and in practice, we see how companies and local governments are gradually replacing scattered Excel spreadsheets and paper agendas with a single digital environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Innovation Circus was an attempt to bring this topic out of the corporate environment and directly into a theater filled with people who actually make decisions about city and municipal budgets. That is precisely why it also had an international dimension: speakers from four countries arrived in the ring, each tackling the digitalization of public administration in a different way. It was great to see how their approaches complemented each other on a single stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What was happening in the arena?<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main program consisted of nine expert lectures and workshops, meaning nine separate acts of one large performance. Among the main highlights were: <\/p>\n\n\n\n