"Coimbra's innovation potential is already recognized and well recognized worldwide, in areas as distinct as technology, health and culture, among others", said the director of the Information Technology and Digital Innovation Department of the Coimbra City Council, Nuno Pimenta, in the presentation of the EMI, this morning.

"The objective of this work is that we can aggregate all this potential in a single, consolidated strategy", he summarized.

According to Susana Loureiro, manager of the Centro territory of the Portuguese Innovation Society (SPI), the company that is providing consulting for this project of the local authority, the work has two dimensions of analysis, one of which is the focus on the municipality, "to look at the territory and understand what the existing innovation ecosystem is", to verify what is working well and what can be improved.

The second dimension of the project consists of looking at "innovation in the Municipality", that is, "understanding how the local authority and its services work", how they are interconnected and communicate, understanding what can be done differently and what changes need to be adopted so that the organization becomes "more efficient, closer to the citizen, more promoter of innovation".

"There is a very relevant focus here, which the local authority wanted to be in the work, that innovation never forgets the various dimensions, which are the objectives of sustainable development", stressed Susana Loureiro.

"Often, when we think about innovation, we immediately associate it with technology, technological innovation, also because Coimbra is very strong in this dimension, but innovating always has this dimension of doing differently for everyone, for an ecosystem, and the SDGs [sustainable development goals] are an excellent 'yardstick' for us to understand how we can innovate without leaving anyone behind", she added.

Susana Loureiro also clarified that the EMI aims to implement an innovative vision for the municipality, with a medium/long-term strategy, and to create a plan that does not "crystallize at the moment of its delivery", but rather that is dynamic, susceptible to adaptation, such as the context itself where it will operate, serving as a first tool to start working.

Positioning the Municipality as an aggregator and promoter of this local ecosystem and promoting broad participation of entities and citizens in this work are also part of the objectives.

The work is divided into four phases, the first (which is already ending) being planning, where the community listening instruments were prepared, the second of prospective diagnosis, followed by the stage of defining the strategic vision and, finally, the phase of developing a proposal for an action plan.

The EMI should be completed in September.

"At this moment, anyone who wants to access some information, it is already available on the Municipality's website", revealed Susana Loureiro.

The mayor of Coimbra, José Manuel Silva, considered that Coimbra has all the potential to be "a city and an innovative municipality at multiple levels".

The mayor defended that the Municipality's innovation strategy "is absolutely nuclear" and also said he is counting on the participation and involvement of everyone.

The vice-mayor, Francisco Veiga, stated that "the Municipality of Coimbra identified the need to define and materialize its priorities, programs and actions in the medium and long term, on the strategic axes of intervention in the area of innovation, in order to leverage its potential, namely the aggregation and active participation of its local innovation ecosystem, in territorial development and in the quality of life of its population".

FYBP // JEF

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