On September 11th, took place the first meeting of the “Aveiro Smart Connected Spaces Testbed” project, an initiative integrated into the National Testbeds Network of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), led by the Creative Science Park (PCI) in Ílhavo. The main objective of this meeting was to define strategies and establish synergies for the launch of the Testbed, with a special focus on startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the technological realm.
The Testbed represents a unique opportunity for SMEs and Startups to validate their products and services in a physical or virtual environment, with the goal of increasing their technological readiness level (TRL) and accelerating their market entry. The project anticipates the development of 59 pilot products (Testbed Leader) by September 2025, addressing challenges associated with digital transformation, communications, sensing, data, artificial intelligence, among others.
Besides the PCI, the consortium integrates more six entities from different sectors, including companies, public administration, higher education, the national scientific and technological system, and competitiveness clusters. Notable among them are Altice Labs, the Port of Aveiro Administration, the University of Aveiro, the Institution of Telecommunications, TICE, and the Ocean Forum – Association for the Maritime Economy. Alongside these co-promoters that form the consortium, the Testbed also has the participation of the Aveiro City Council and the Ílhavo City Council as non-funded partners.
This project fits within the sectors of information and communication technologies, maritime and fisheries, and smart cities/territories. It is also important to note that the Testbed has strong connections with the Aveiro Technological Free Zone (ZLT-Aveiro) and the Digital Innovation Hub (DiH) of TICE.PT, aiming to establish collaborative and complementary synergies for efficient and high-quality sectoral alignment.