Open innovation

Lisboa’s diversified entrepreneurial ecosystem (incubators, start-ups, accelerators, companies, fab labs and creative hubs) has contributed significantly to creating an atmosphere of constant innovation.

The Municipality of Lisboa plays a key role in promoting several projects, not only by promoting innovation but also by acting as a mediator between all entities involved in collaborative innovative projects (Open Innovation), namely Universities, Companies, the State and the citizens.

Municipal initiatives SMART OPEN LISBOA and LISBOA ROBOTICS municipal initiatives represent excellent examples of a strategy whose purpose is to turn Lisboa into an open laboratory for innovation.

Promoted by the Lisboa City Council, Smart Open Lisboa (SOL) is the city’s main open innovation programme. SOL focuses on innovation and partnerships.

The goal of this programme is to identify start-ups capable of finding solutions to the challenges and problems identified by programme partners and to develop pilot projects aimed at implementing these solutions. The city, together with its facilities and public areas, is made available as an open innovation laboratory.

Start-ups are thus offered a unique opportunity to receive support from large companies in validating their solutions, using real data in a real-world environment.

The latest programme, started in 2018, has been organised and structured such as focus on specific themes and address major challenges. The first theme to be developed was mobility: Sol Mobility. Monitored by SOL Housing, this programme entails the development and testing of real estate projects, from construction to management, design and advertising.
 

Launched in 24 February 2017, the Lisboa Robotics Cluster – Lisboa Robotics – is a project led by a set of entities, including the Lisboa City Council, the Lisboa School of Engineering Institute of Systems and Robotics and the Portuguese Robotics Society, which aims to unite the Robotics community in Lisboa and promote development in this field. More than 30 partners are already involved in this project.

The Lisboa Robotics Strategic Programme involves the phased development of the following projects:

  • establishment of a network of Hotspots, i.e. testing and experimentation spots in a controlled environment;
  • creation of a Think Tank, a group of experts that meet to reflect upon major issues arising in connection with the development of Robotics, namely ethical, legal and societal issues;
  • creation of Living Labs, i.e. areas within the city where people can interact with robots;
  • creation of a Robotics incubator to support and promote sector development.

The Lisboa Robotics programme aims to ensure that the city is prepared to welcome the certain development of the Robotics sector and capable of meeting the challenges entailed in the near future.