Opening session was attended by the Secretary of State, José Mendes, the Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Portugal, Sofia Colares Alves and the City Councilman, Ricardo Costa.

The IV edition of Smart City 360º Summit 2018, organized by the Municipality of Guimarães, University of Minho and DigitalSign, took place at the Vila Flor Cultural Center in Guimarães. Smart City 360º Summit 2018 is an international event dedicated to the theme of smart cities. The conference brought together all the stakeholders involved (municipal, academic and private enterprises) in this versatile event that included scientific conferences a day dedicated to business, government and tech, and a day dedicated to innovation filled with demonstrations and discussion of case studies.

The opening session was held on October 22, under the theme “Business, Government and Technology”, with the participation of Ricardo Costa, City Councilor of Guimarães, Paulo Cruz, Pro-Rector of the University of Minho, Imrich Chlamtac, President of the European Alliance for Innovation and Henrique Santos, General Chair.

The statements by Sofia Colares Alves, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Portugal, and by José Mendes, First Secretary of State for Mobility, succeed. José Mendes focused on mobility, mentioned that “there is an unavoidable objective to decarbonise and move to transport that produces less pollution”. Mendes also stated that “in 2019 state budget, support for electrical bicycles is also contemplated”, guaranteeing that the Government will  continue to develop policies in this regard.

The IV International Edition ensure a unique combination of technical talent, researchers, industries best companies/solutions, as well as public employees and organizations to build bridges of collaboration in the areas of smart urban connectivity, governance, sustainability, health and mobility in the cities of XXI century.