IN2LISBON · IN²LISBON - Innovative and Inclusive Lisbon

IN²LISBON - Innovative and Inclusive Lisbon

The main objective of IN²LISBON was to collect and combine new and diverse data to understand and disseminate good ideas about Lisbon's urban transformation into a city of digital innovation. I looked for data from the point of view of its public managers, its residents, workers and entrepreneurs (Portuguese and foreigners). The importance of the research is justified by the relevance of this process of urban and economic transformation for Lisbon and Portugal, in this last decade in which the city and country were trying to emerge from a serious economic crisis, precisely in a period of growth of digital economy in Europe and the world. Lisbon created and boosted a "digital innovation ecosystem", a network or community of interdependent people and companies in the digital economy, the core of this innovative city. The city has become internationally recognized as a center of digital innovation in Europe and has attracted more and more digital entrepreneurs and investments through the combination of (i) different fiscal policies and (ii) legal policies, integrated with (iii) “material investments” (state construction of a large hub to promote new digital technology companies, and private constructions of hubs, coworking, co-living and creative spaces) and (iv) “symbolic investments” (campaigns about the innovative and digital city, with a new brand and slogan, strategically prepared speeches by public leaders about the benefits of a future centered on new technologies). The idea of State and business leaders is to transform Lisbon into a creative and innovative city in digital and disruptive technologies, and not just another city in which these foreign technologies are tested and implemented. This plan is in accordance with European Union guidelines for the next decade. However, the city has become more expensive to live in. Its spaces, public and private, are in dispute. The imaginaries about the city are also there. There is also no guarantee that digital entrepreneurs and investors are committed to long-term plans and investments - on the contrary, they are very susceptible to ephemeral and deterritorialized business strategies, and can change their companies and investments between countries very quickly.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз