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World Economic Forum brings global Yes/Cities urban innovation challenge to Delhi
- After Bengaluru, World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Deloitte, expands Yes/Cities to Delhi
- It is a purpose-driven challenge to transform the future of Indian cities by enhancing urban quality of life, creating opportunities and helping communities thrive
- The Yes/Cities programme intends to support over 1,000 innovators and create an impact in more than 50 cities by 2030.
New Delhi, 9 July 2026: The World Economic Forum's global Yes/Cities network expands to Delhi, a growing initiative that helps cities identify, support and scale breakthrough solutions to compelling urban challenges and development aspirations. The launch of the Yes/Cities initiative in Delhi, in collaboration with Deloitte, commenced with a Design Thinking and Collaborator Ecosystem Workshop, marks the beginning of a collaborative effort to bring together different stakeholders to co-create practical solutions for a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive capital.
The discussions throughout the workshop underscored the importance of collaborative innovation in addressing the city's evolving needs. By fostering dialogue among public institutions, private sector leaders, innovators, community organisations and knowledge partners, the event laid the foundation for a broad-based ecosystem of collaborators to drive the Yes/Delhi journey forward.
“The most effective urban solutions emerge when diverse perspectives come together around a shared purpose. As cities navigate growing demands on infrastructure, sustainability and collaboration will be critical to turning challenges into opportunities. Through WEF’s Yes/Cities initiative, Delhi has an opportunity to create a strong innovation ecosystem that can identify, test and scale solutions with lasting impact. We are proud to be associated with this effort and to support the development of ideas that can help shape the future of urban living.“
Romal Shetty, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte South Asia
The insights and recommendations emerging from the workshop will help inform the design of the upcoming Yes/Delhi Urban Innovation Challenge, scheduled to be launched in August 2026. This challenge will invite startups and innovators to develop bold, practical and scalable solutions for Delhi. Following a competitive selection process, a cohort of promising innovators will be selected to pilot, implement and scale their solutions in the country’s capital city. Through mentorship, technical support and ecosystem connections, the programme will help innovators transform promising ideas into solutions with measurable impact on the ground.
This launch also marks the expansion of the global place-based innovation programme, following its successful introduction in Bengaluru in 2025. The Yes/Cities programme intends to support over 1,000 innovators and impact more than 50 cities by 2030.
About Yes/Cities:
Yes/Cities is a global initiative led by the World Economic Forum, Deloitte and others that brings together governments, innovators, investors, and leading companies to unlock economic opportunity and improve quality of life. It provides a pathway for world-leading companies to invest in innovation ecosystems across the globe - driving local growth, improving quality of life, forging new cross-sector partnerships, and seeding solutions to pressing global challenges. For further information, click here.
About Deloitte
This press release has been issued by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP
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Media contact
Pallavi Das
Deloitte Shared Services India LLP
Email: paldas@deloitte.com