Implementation

The backbone of Aveiro Tech City is the STEAM project. Its aim is to attract and retain the necessary talents of the domains of science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM) for its economy to grow.

The Aveiro Tech City initiative is built on four axes: education, training, technology with services and apps, and challenges. In the first axis, for example, the Tech Labs aim to develop interest and basic skills and knowledge in STEAM competences among students and teachers at all levels of education. Additionally, training is provided, e. g. through boot camps for unemployed, students or professionals seeking a career change. They promote programming skills for citizens who want to work in the field of information and communication technology. The Living Lab of the initiative is an example of the third axe. It is a designated territory in the urban space, equipped with the latest technology from state-of-the-art fibre technology to 5G network services. It is open for different stakeholders interested in developing, testing, or demonstrating new Smart Cities products or services in a real context. The last axe is about challenges, such as the 5G challenge, which will award new solutions and products using 5G technology.

The initiative works closely with the University of Aveiro a and a number of other stakeholders, such as the Institute of Telecommunications and Altice Labs. 

Vision

Positive results can be drawn from the example activities of Aveiro Tech City mentioned above, which already show the transformation in the city. More than 140 teachers were trained in tech labs in schools, in three boat camps a total of 60 people were trained and there were 126 applicants from all over the world for the Aveiro Challenges. Applications for the Living Lab are currently open and free of charge until April 2022 and cross-disciplinary activities in Digital Arts, such as Music Tech Fest Aveiro, have been implemented.