Smarter cities Portugal: innovation incubators and public entrepreneurs in times of decentralization: 9 case studies

“Portugal is currently preparing a National Strategy on Smart Cities – an initiative of the Portuguese Government. This aims to scale up current initiatives and projects and to highlight the importance of multilevel cooperation, interoperability, and the sharing of good practices. The lessons to be learned from this book are a sound contribution to the ongoing preparatory work. The examples selected for this volume resulted in nine thought-provoking case studies that display significant complementarity and various organizational models, which may prove inspirational and may even be partially replicated in other cities, in Portugal and further afield. The book provides a clear indication of how innovation agencies may act as drivers for change and underscores the important leadership role of local authorities. The concept of smarter city, rather than smart city, is an apt illustration of the idea of a continuous and enlarged conceptual and practical ambition, towards a redesigned future and a journey towards a more sustainable, inclusive and wiser city, and of a project that draws from science, technology, art and culture in order to transform our lives for the better.” Mário Campolargo Secretary of State for Digitalization and Administrative Modernization of Portugal, from the Preface.