Lisbon Opens up
"Smart Open Lisboa"
A new initiative was launched in Lisbon, in which nine Portuguese start-ups were provided exclusive access to Open Data for the developments of mobile applications. What is special about this initiative is that the data provided to the start-ups is not merely Open Data from the public sector but also includes data from other, private entities. With this collaboration, the start-ups are granted access to information which is normally not available as open data, for them to develop innovative applications. The information provided to them ranges from geospatial data such as maps, demographic, transportation and environmental information.
The initiative, called "Smart Open Lisboa" is a collaboration between the municipality and Portugal telecom, Cisco, Startup Lisbon and Tourism of Portugal. By supporting the selected start-ups, the partners aim at promoting entrepreneurship and the development of applications which can solve problems and improve the quality of life in the city. Companies that get approved in the trial period, which runs until 21 October, will also be granted access to the Web Summit early November where they can get in contact with potential investors.
Although Lisbon is a leading city in Portugal with regards to the release of Open Data, the initiative is inspired by other countries. In particular after success stories from other countries such as the opening up of the Transport for London Database, Lisbon also wants to harness the potential of Open Data to create wealth, jobs and use it for the development of smart city policies.
Want to know more about the project or about the Open Data developments in Portugal at large? Read the whole article by following the link below.
