On the 7th June, the PT Innovation Awards ceremony was held in the presence of the two winners, one in the Academy category, the other in the Startups category.
Announced in September 2016, the PT Innovation Award was created with the purpose of reinforcing Portugal’s positioning in innovation development, providing conditions to enhance national talent and spread it in and out of doors. “The award we are celebrating today stems from the innovation history that characterizes PT and the Altice Group and is an initiative of technological responsibility in which PT contributes to the meeting of synergies between the academy, the startups ecosystem and the industry“, said Paulo Neves at the opening ceremony.
Alexandre Fonseca, PT’s Chief Technology Officer, highlighted the importance of this award as “another important step and an initiative of what has been the path set by Altice in Portugal in the development of innovation, value creation, promotion of entrepreneurship and, above all, in the recognition of portuguese talent“. A talent that has been a key component of Portugal Telecom, which for many years has been distinguished by its capacity for innovation.
The winner in the Academy category (Master / Doctorate) was Ricardo Maximiano’s Neuropsycad.
It is based on Cloud computing and Big Data technologies and aims to provide efficient and accurate support for the diagnosis of neuropsychiatric diseases. It statistically compares a biomedical image of the patient with a standard database that is representative of the population. Neuropsycad technology is faster than traditionally used processes and, according to project mentors, the results are 65% more assertive than those performed by doctors. That is, the preventive capacity of this technology is greater. In addition, the service provided is cheaper than the one provided by companies in the industry.
In the Startups category, the winner was Mater Dynamics: QStamp®.
Mater Dynamics has developed a technology that allows you to create intelligent labels that use chemical processes to identify changes in certain parameters. QStamps can, for example, indicate if there are changes in food by controlling humidity and temperature. The technology has applications in many areas and is now at a turning point where, according to the company’s manager, it is necessary to invest in more technology and expertise.
The finalists of the Academy category as well as the winner of the startups category also received the distinction “Born From Knowledge”, under a partnership between Altice Labs and the National Agency of Innovation. This distinction is part of the “Born from Knowledge” programme, developed jointly by the National Agency of Innovation and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education to value scientific and technological knowledge and promote and stimulate innovation ecosystems.