Building Bridges Between Europe and the United States Through Living Labs, Innovation and Smart Cities

BVV Living Lab Brno, z.s., Veletrhy Brno, a.s., the American municipal innovation center Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners, the Czech Business Incubator Atlanta (CBIA), and the City of Brno are entering into a strategic partnership focused on a new generation of Living Labs. The approval of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the Brno City Council on September 30, 2026, paves the way for practical cooperation between real-world testbeds for smart cities, telematics, private 5G and IoT networks, urban digital twins, and autonomous mobility on both sides of the Atlantic.

The official signing ceremony will take place during the International Engineering Fair (MSV) on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at 4:30 PM at the Brno Exhibition Centre, Pavilion P, at the Czech National Exhibition stand. The ceremony will be attended in person by Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček, Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Atlanta Monika Vintrlíková, an official delegation from the U.S. state of Georgia led by representatives of the City of Peachtree Corners, and senior representatives of the City of Brno.

Testing, Demonstration and Scaling of Innovations in Real Urban Environments

While traditional applied research often struggles to bridge the gap between development and practical deployment, the Living Lab concept serves as the missing link in the innovation cycle. At the heart of the approved memorandum is a shared ambition to accelerate innovation through testing, pilot validation, and scaling of new solutions in real-world city and regional environments.

The partnership is built on complementary operational capabilities and infrastructure:

• Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners provides a live municipal laboratory operating on public roads, including a three-lane autonomous vehicle test track in active traffic, intelligent intersections equipped with C-V2X technologies and LiDAR systems (recipient of the Smart 20 Award), an underground logistics tunnel, and a private 5G network developed in cooperation with T-Mobile USA.
• BVV Living Lab Brno contributes the protected and flexible environment of the Brno Exhibition Centre, including the Open 5G Hub Brno testbed (a private 5G Mobile Private Network and IoT mesh network, also based on T-Mobile technology). This infrastructure enables the safe testing of drones both indoors and outdoors, automated site logistics systems, and telematics solutions for city services.

Through the involvement of CBIA in Atlanta, technology projects and municipal companies from Brno, including Brno Public Transport Company, Brno Technical Networks, Brno District Heating Company, and SAKO Brno, gain access to soft-landing support and direct entry to the U.S. market and leading technology ecosystems. In return, Brno offers American innovative companies certification opportunities and validation of solutions in a European regulatory and operational environment.

Statements from Representatives of the Partner Organizations

Petr Kratochvíl, Brno City Councillor

"The City of Brno has long pursued strengthening its position as a major European center for innovation, research, business, and advanced technologies. Cooperation with partners in the United States represents an opportunity to further develop international relations, support innovative companies from Brno, and enhance the city's attractiveness as a destination open to new technologies and foreign investment."

Marie Zezůlková, Executive Director, BVV Living Lab Brno

"Our mission is to test, validate, and deploy technologies in real operations. Peachtree Corners and its Curiosity Lab have built a globally recognized test environment integrated into public infrastructure. They test autonomous shuttles in live traffic, operate an underground logistics tunnel, and deploy LiDAR-equipped intersections utilizing T-Mobile 5G connectivity.

Many advanced solutions, such as drone operations, automated indoor logistics, and new autonomous systems, require a secure and controlled environment before entering public streets. That is exactly what BVV Living Lab Brno offers: 45 hectares of secured grounds, exhibition halls, and the private campus-wide 5G network of the Open 5G Hub. At the same time, we provide American companies from Peachtree Corners with a European testbed for meeting EU standards and reaching European customers. We aim to support each other where our capabilities naturally complement one another."

Jan Kubata, CEO, Veletrhy Brno, a.s.

"Veletrhy Brno has been evolving from a traditional exhibition venue into a year-round innovation and testing campus. Our private 5G network, combined with the secured infrastructure of the exhibition grounds, creates a safe environment where companies can test technologies that are not yet ready to enter public streets without risk.

The memorandum with Curiosity Lab and the City of Peachtree Corners gives the Brno Exhibition Centre a transatlantic dimension. We are creating a space where technologies from the United States can be validated against European standards and subsequently demonstrated at events such as MSV and URBIS The Smart Cities Meetup."

Monika Vintrlíková, Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Atlanta and Co-Founder of CBIA

"The connection between the State of Georgia and the South Moravian Region is built on strong and long-standing foundations. From the perspective of both the Consulate and CBIA, we see that Czech companies and municipalities need a practical bridge for entering the U.S. market.

Today's agreement between BVV Living Lab and Curiosity Lab opens a two-way corridor: Czech startups and municipal innovations gain direct access to the prestigious innovation ecosystem in Peachtree Corners, while leading American technologies find in Brno a trusted partner for practical testing and entry into Europe."

Seth Yurman, Deputy Director, City of Peachtree Corners

"Curiosity Lab was created to accelerate the transition of emerging technologies from controlled testing environments to real-world deployment. By connecting our living laboratory in Peachtree Corners with BVV Living Lab in Brno, we are creating a transatlantic innovation corridor where companies can validate technologies across different infrastructure, regulatory, telecommunications, and market environments.

This significant collaboration will support projects in areas such as connected and autonomous mobility, advanced communications, physical AI, smart city infrastructure, and other next-generation technologies, while providing companies with a more direct route to commercialization.

Our economic development partnership creates new opportunities for Czech companies to establish a presence in the U.S. market through Peachtree Corners, while offering American companies a trusted platform for entering the Czech and European markets. Our goal is not merely to test technologies, but to build an ecosystem that attracts investment, supports business growth, and helps innovative companies scale internationally.