Portugal
Fernando Medina
547,733 (2011)
Ana Margarida Figueiredo, Ana Sofia Aníbal
Simplify administrative procedures for firms and residents
Improve service delivery
Engage residents and other stakeholders
Dedicated innovation team
Human resource support
Culture of innovation in city
Support from outside city administration
Engagement with partners
Leadership from Mayor
Smart Open Lisboa (SOL) is an open innovation program for start-ups to pilot their solutions aimed at improving the lives of residents. The most innovative and viable solutions receive guidance and support from SOL, gain access to key corporations, and earn a chance to work directly with potential customers or partners to further develop their ideas. After two broader editions aimed to address all urban challenges, the recent editions of SOL focus on the issues of Housing (2018) and Mobility (2019).
Along with 50% of cities surveyed, Lisbon has an explicit innovation strategy. Similar to 24% of cities surveyed, Lisbon approaches innovation capacity in specific policy areas/domains.
Smart Open Lisboa is an open innovation program for startups to pilot innovative solutions that can be applied to address mobility or other challenges in Lisbon.
As an independent department, Lisbon’s dedicated innovation team consists of 5 staff.
Taking risks or testing new ideas
Data-driven analytics/public data management
Engaging residents in new ways
Developing new solutions based on digital technologies
Organizational change within the municipality
Human-centered design
Rethinking your city’s approach to financing partnerships
Like 81% of cities surveyed, Lisbon has dedicated funding to support innovation capacity.
Lisbon’s funding for innovation capacity is generally directed towards financing start-ups, and investing in open innovation programs such as Hub Criativo do Beato.
*"Training staff and building capacity" is not an option in the 2018 survey, while "Launching or sustaining a project" is not an option in the 2020 survey.
Lisbon has developed partnerships to promote innovation capacity with other public agencies, private firms, not-for-profit organizations, and city residents/resident associations.
To improve data use, the city has also developed data partnerships with the private sector, academia and think tanks to collect and analyze data.