
The fourth innovation journeys start next Thursday, an initiative of the Innovation Agency whose main objective is to show results of supported research projects over the past few years. More than 500 projects will be on display, most of which benefited from public or community support to convert them into products or services, or in the companies that hosted them or generating new companies to exploit them. The 500 projects on display involved more than 1,000 participants, including companies and research entities.
Occupying the entire pavilion 1 of FIL, the 4th Innovation Days will also lead 57 Eureka projects to the event, to show some successful examples of R&D in international cooperation. On the 19th, the one that is considered the best Eureka project will be awarded, an initiative that Portugal has chaired since last year. The rest of the exhibition space is filled with exhibitors from projects grouped by areas of activity. ICT dominates, although there is also a strong representation of projects in the area of ​​electronics. Other areas such as energy or chemistry are also represented.
Universities and entities in the scientific system also have their own exhibition area for the second time, leading to the exhibition projects looking for investment partnerships, although the main focus of the event is even to show R&D applied to business activity.
Lino Fernandes, president of Agência da Inovação, recognizes that since the first innovation days the number of participants in the event has always increased (two years ago the days occupied only one third of the pavilion) and recalls that if the exhibition was held in the first edition mainly from project sketches, still under development. Today there are mainly products that resulted from these projects and that made an effective contribution for business R&D to overcome the barrier of 1 percent of GDP. A good part of the projects shown in the exhibition were born with the support of the NEOTEC financing tool and are now companies.
The official also underlines the fact that among the projects shown at the event there is a strong predominance of «means of production» initiatives, projects that create innovation that will benefit third parties (management software, for example). This type of project is, in fact, the one that has received the most support in recent years, also as a way to fill the gaps that existed in the country in terms of innovation at this level.
Lino Fernandes recalls that according to the latest available data, Portugal was the European country where R&D grew the most since 1995, an evolution that mainly reflects the recovery of the delay compared to other countries. The data also show that in 1995 only 200 companies were identified as having R&D practices, that number had increased in 2007 to 2000. Another important indicator is the fact that in the last 20 years the number of researchers per thousand Portuguese has gone from 1.3 to 5.6.
The data recovered by the President of AdI in anticipation of the Innovation Days press supports his view that Portugal has changed its innovation profile and today compares much more favorably with the more advanced countries of the EU. In your opinion, the next step is to generalize the good examples.
Those who pass through FIL between the 18th and 20th of June will be able to get in touch with practical examples of innovation in areas as diverse as agriculture, space, transport, telecommunications, education, among others. In addition to the exhibition area, the Journeys have a parallel program of events that can be consulted online.
The Journeys take place simultaneously with Tecnofil, which is part of Sinotec – International Exhibition of Innovation and Technology, Ambiurbe – International Exhibition of Environment and Sustainability, and Endiel – Meeting for the Development of the Electric and Electronic Sector.