The Portugal Agora platform is preparing to organize a conference on the theme of Smart Cities, with the aim of addressing trends in urban management, information technologies and their applications, solutions for environmental sustainability, energy efficiency and mobility, and the opportunity to create a global skills center in Portugal.
Lisbon, March 20th, 2019 - At a time when "Smart Cities" are on the European Union's agenda and projects in this area have already emerged in Portugal, the Portugal Agora platform is bringing together representatives from leading companies and the public sector to debate the topic "Smart Cities - A new skills center in Portugal?". The initiative takes place on March 26 at the Jupiter Lisboa Hotel in Lisbon.
Inês Ferreira (Altice Portugal), José Gonçalo Regalado (Millennium BCP), Miguel Pinto Luz (Cascais City Council), Nuno Piolty de Almeida (Samsung Electronics Portugal) and Luís Bravo Martins (IT People Group) are the speakers invited to try to answer questions related to the role of technology and innovation, urban management processes, sustainability, attractiveness and quality of life in cities and the possibility of creating a new skills center in Portugal.
"Today's technology presents us with possibilities to innovate in urban management in ways that have never been seen before: in the planning of spaces, in greater connectivity between people and institutions, in the search for solutions that maximize energy efficiency, in waste management and environmental sustainability, in new models of urban mobility and even in leveraging a more active citizenry. All these dimensions come together in the so-called Smart Cities." explains Carlos Sezões, Coordinator of Portugal Agora.
The project manager adds that "Governing is about making choices and defining a strategy, it's about deciding what to do and what not to do. It therefore seems to me that creating the conditions for our cities to be more attractive and of a higher quality should be a goal for the next decade."
The topic under discussion has remarkable potential, with the global Smart Cities market expected to reach more than 1.5 trillion dollars by 2020, between embryonic projects and more consolidated experiences. Recent studies estimate that there will be more than 600 smart city projects at a global level by the end of this decade. Many of them are initiatives for the intelligent "refoundation" of cities with centuries of history, such as Santander, Barcelona or Amsterdam, as well as the construction of cities from scratch.
Cities, as poles of attraction and social innovation, have and will continue to play an extremely important role in human development. The talent, innovation capacity and technological skills of Portuguese institutions can be decisive, with ideas that can be applied to local innovation and, perhaps, exported. Worthwhile initiatives, such as events, debates and platforms, have emerged in recent years, bringing together the efforts of dozens of entities to boost the development of innovative solutions in these areas.
Participation in the conference, as with all events on the Portugal Agora platform, is free with prior registration via the following address info@portugalagora.com.
PROGRAM:
17.30h - Opening: Carlos Sezões (Coordinator of Portugal Agora)
17.45h - Panel of speakers:
- Inês Ferreira (M2M and IoT Group Product Manager - responsible for Internet Of Things of Altice Portugal)
- José Gonçalo Regalado (Chief Marketing Officer - Corporate & SMEs ∙ Millennium BCP)
- Miguel Pinto Luz (Deputy Mayor of Cascais)
- Nuno Piolty de Almeida (B2B Enterprise Sales Manager - business development manager at Samsung Electronics Portugal)
- Luís Bravo Martins (Head of Marketing - IT People Group, specialist in AV/VR - Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality)
19.00h - Debate
19.30h - Closing
About Portugal Agora:
The "Portugal Now" project aims to create a vision, broken down into strategic models for the country, for the coming decades. This will be achieved through a plural space for discussion, over a limited period, with the aim of determining where convergences are possible, which will materialize into priorities in which Portugal can develop. The project takes on strategic dimensions - Attractiveness, Knowledge, Entrepreneurship - for Portugal and wants to link them to implementation and action. Additional information: http://www.portugalagora.com/