Porto is one of the smart cities in European initiative

The European Commission has launched an initiative to transform more than 120 cities into smart and sustainable urban centers, and Porto is one of the cities acknowledged.

Through the "100 Intelligent Cities Challenge" program, the European Commission will support the implementation of innovation and technological development strategies in 124 cities, and Porto is one of the examples chosen as a reference. The city of Porto is part of the group of ten mentoring cities, along with Barcelona, ​​Amsterdam, Antwerp and Singapore, and others. 

The 124 cities chosen by the European Commission to receive this support are already known, in a list that includes capitals like Rome, Budapest, Bratislava, Sofia and Zagreb, in addition to two Portuguese cities, Guimarães and Valongo, which will develop their action plans with the support of mentor cities. 

This initiative by the European Commission aims to support participating cities in areas such as mobility, energy transition, training and capacity building of human resources, crisis management, security and health, and the work developed will always be based on technology and security tools. support for the digital transition. With the main objective of contributing to a more sustainable and socially responsible society, the program will last for 30 months and will include more than 100 days of joint work between the participating cities and the mentoring cities. 

By participating, Porto will be able to share the work that has been developed, but also to explore new opportunities for collaboration with municipalities that have led the digital transition process in Europe. This is one of the development pillars defined by the European Commission, not only in the context of the various mitigation measures for the COVID-19 pandemic but, above all, for a phase of recovery and future development.

 Porto's participation in the "100 Intelligent Cities Challenge" program will be coordinated by the Porto Digital and is part of the Municipality's strategy for the development of the city's technological infrastructure, namely the planned investments for the expansion of the fiber-optic network, the expansion the free Wi-Fi network "Porto. Free Wi-Fi" - which since 2018 has registered more than 2.5 million connected devices - and also investments in decision support tools based on data collection and analysis.

Porto Digital's action will also be relevant in the context of sharing knowledge related to economic opportunities in the area of ​​smart cities, namely the development of opportunities for startups.

This work has been carried out in multiple projects led by Porto Digital, for example, the memorandum "Join, Boost and Sustain", signed in February 2020 in Porto, during the Forum of Cities, organized by the European Commission, and which counted as Municipal support. This memorandum, which has President Rui Moreira as one of the ambassadors, brings together dozens of mayors from across Europe around the objective of enhancing the creation of economic value based on technological solutions for cities and will be one of the bases for the work now proposed.