Famalicão honours research and innovation with an impact on the region
A project for digital tools for creativity, one for industrial automation, two for digitising the energy ecosystem and a platform for valorisation, industrialisation and commercial innovation for the agri-food sector were the big winners of the municipal Research Grants programme promoted by Famalicão City Council, whose winners will now receive a prize worth 5,000 euros for the development of these projects.
The measure, which aims to promote business innovation and the development of research and innovation activities for new products or processes that help the industry and its development, is in line with municipal policies to promote research and innovation in the area.
"Famalicão has a diversified business fabric, where there are conditions for the development of research and innovation, and this programme's primary objective is to encourage, retain and attract talent," said the Mayor, Mário Passos, at a meeting this morning with the winners of the initiative.
"Innovation is always an unfinished building, which we have to keep nurturing so that it can generate knowledge transfer," he added.
It should be noted that this measure follows the implementation of the municipal strategy 'from MadeIN to CreatedIN' and the municipal strategy to support innovation. This new approach by the municipality aims to create and develop value by attracting technology-based companies, encouraging the digital and climate transition, promoting science, knowledge and technology, bringing together the entities of the Research and Innovation System (ENESII) and companies in the area, as well as creating, attracting and retaining talent and fostering social cohesion and well-being.
The scholarship winners are developing integrated projects at TecMeat, Citeve and CEVE- Cooperativa Eletrica do Vale do Este. This is the case of Ana Rita Gomes, who is working on a project in the field of robotics and Artificial Intelligence. She emphasised the importance of this support "because of the incentive", but also because "it allows us to develop a project that will help companies make better decisions and thereby add value to their processes".
All the selected projects are part of the European research programme "Horizon 2030" and are part of the mobilising agendas of the PRR - Recovery and Resilience Plan.