The 2023 edition of the Portugal Smart Cities summit was held at Feira International de Lisboa, Portugal, between the 10 and 12 October and included ISCTE’s participation through several of its researchers and its own stand.

The conference brought together the Portuguese Smart Cities sector, together with some of the biggest names in the international industry, with representation from exhibiting companies from foreign markets, especially China.

The event covered topics such as the relationship between municipalities, companies and citizens, and themes such as energy, mobility, science, health, well-being, or the water, environment and sustainability sectors. There were talks in which various experts analysed the current state of the art in a variety of sectors, outlining pressing challenges.

On this stage, there were spaces – such as Smart Garden or SmartB2B – that allowed business opportunities to be explored and contacts to be made with participants. In this context, ISCTE shared the results of InCITIES, an international project that it coordinates through vice-rector Maria das Dores Guerreiro and Professor Catarina Ferreira da Silva, who heads the ISTAR – ISCTE’s Centre for Research in Information Sciences, Technologies and Architecture.

As coordinator of InCITIES, Professor Catarina Ferreira da Silva presented the project during the conference. Nine other projects underway or completed at ISCTE were also presented. Thus, the vice-rector, architect Bernardo Pizarro Miranda, presented the new ISCTE Knowledge and Innovation building, rebuilt according to the principles of the New European Bauhaus. Professor Sibila Marques presented her GreenCity4Aging project, on the effects of urban green streets on mobility, social integration and ageing among senior citizens. Professor Miguel Sales Dias addressed the issue of mobile applications, based on artificial intelligence for public health response, with the FCT AIM Health project.

The event was also attended by political leaders, including the Minister for Territorial Cohesion, the Minister for the Economy and the Sea, the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Administrative Modernisation, among others. In this edition, Slovakia and Bratislava were the guests at the “smart cities” summit, which brought together a hundred exhibitors and speakers.