Two dozen Portuguese cities and companies attended the Smart City Expo World Congress, in Barcelona. The worldwide event showcases projects and innovative solutions regarding a more sustainable future from all over the world. For the first time ever, Portugal had a place dedicated to Portuguese projects, developed by different cities and companies, leaders in the construction of national sustainable urban intelligence, under the Smart Portugal brand.
The fair was a unique opportunity for the country. Municipalities and companies were able to present and showcase directly to the international community projects that are already running as well as ones being tested in order to provide innovative solutions. Lisbon, Porto, Guimarães, Famalicão and Braga were some of the municipalities present among the exhibitors. On the company side, the booth featured Altice, AVPro, Focus BC, CEiiA and Wavecom.
Although the sector is still waiting for the publication of the National Strategy for Smart Cities, the Secretary of State for Internationalization, Bernardo Ivo Cruz, attended the event and guaranteed that the strategy is “central to the Government’s policy.” He also highlighted the quality and innovation presented by the national sector as well as the importance of presenting innovative solutions for the new economy, “If we look around, we find very intelligent solutions to problems not only in cities, but also in regions and even countries (…) The secret of the new economy that begins to emerge in the 21th century is intelligence; this industrial revolution is an intelligence revolution and we have that to give and sell”.
During the fair and the presentation of the projects, the partnership between all Portuguese municipalities stood out, which, according to Bernardo Ivo Cruz, in a statement to the magazine Smart Cities, “is the key ingredient for a more comfortable life, more economic growth, more quality of life – and must involve all agents.”
The coordination and organization aspects regarding Portugal’s presence at the fair were managed by AICEP – Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal and NOVA Cidade – Urban Analytics Lab of NOVA Information Management School (IMS), with the support of the Portugal Consulate in Barcelona and the Delegation of AICEP/Economic and Commercial Section – Embassy of Portugal in Spain.
