The Ecosystem
The Algarve Tech Hub is a strong Tech Ecosystem that aims to develop and promote the Algarve region as the best lifestyle tech hub of Europe for technology-focused companies and individuals, identify talents and attract international stakeholders into the region, namely strategic investors, the scientific and the digital nomad & remote workers community.
The uniqueness of the Algarve Tech hub is that it was bootstraped by the regional community and private tech companies in collaboration with local councils, central government and the university. Added to which are the technological strategic focus of the country since early 2010, specifically as regards the national tech strategy, international tech promotion, the organisation of events on an international scale, such as Web Summit, and the various fiscal benefits and public and European investments available to support both companies and technological development.
Above all, the goal is to aggregate and consolidate know-how in specific technological areas, the aim being to create brain power that will allow projects with a real chance of being winners on the international scene to be designed and developed. It is vital, therefore, that the Algarve Tech Hub’s ecosystem brings together strong stakeholders, including Incubators, accelerators, academies, mentor-pools, know-how centres, nearshoring and outsourcing service centres.
As an open system, its structuring will be done by voluntary decision of the various entities inserted in the technological fabric and promoting whenever possible the convergence of the respective activities.
Talents: trying to stimulate the attraction of national (diaspora) and international (digital nomads) talents:
International companies: Attract anchor companies that have R&D offices and that can contribute to multiply the ecosystem;
Incubator Network: Standardize procedures and articulate the existing incubator network, promoting the creation of new units and new agents;
Other vertical associations: Encourage the creation of other vertical business associations, based on innovation and intensive knowledge;
Accelerators: Create accelerators in the territory that can support companies in the pre-seed, seed and start-up phase, and enhance Business Angels or Venture Capital operations.
Business Angels and Venture Capitals: Stimulate the attraction financial institutions dedicated to the analysis of opportunities in the Algarve;
Other Universities: Strengthen the links between knowledge agents in the territory (University of Algarve) and other agents and universities at national and international level;
The entities behind the Algarve Tech Hub
Algarve STP –Algarve Systems and Tecnology Partnership (ASTP) is the driving force behind the ecosystem and is supported in its work by the University of Algarve and a set of public and private entities.
The ASTP’s primary mission is to promote the transfer of R&D knowledge on the economic circuits through innovative companies, and to foster the creation of a microclimate with high educational and innovative standards that easily generate cross-fertilisation between entrepreneurs targeting innovation, such as the goal of encouraging regional growth through smart specialisation areas (by EU definition).
The objectives of Algarve STP:
• promotion of scientific and technological research;
• enhancing collaboration between companies and university institutions
• promoting the training and updating of the scientific staff of regional entities;
• provision of services in the field of innovation and new technologies, oriented towards modernization and technological transfer to companies.
• collaborate with other institutions, promote joint lines of scientific research
• collaborate in the creation of new technology-based companies, organize conferences, seminars and studies.
The Algarve Evolution has been one of the main drivers of the Algarve Tech ecosystem. It’s a non-profit association of tech companies that aims to bring together local stakeholders and add value to the tech companies and talents based in the Algarve in order to promote and encourage the technological growth of the region.
Algarve Evolution’s Strategic Goals and Objectives are: deliver advanced capabilities to foster Support, Collaboration, Knowledge Management, New Talent and Data Sharing and Analytics.
SUPPORT
Belonging to Algarve Evolution means members are supported as they develop and grow, empowering each other, and, most importantly, sharing resources, strategies, and the most valuable asset around: knowledge.
COLLABORATION
Enhance collaboration among private and institutional bodies in order to gain critical mass and create synergies that help overcome the main constraints in the internationalization process.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Ensure the availability of and access to information that enables of non-business entities in the R&I system to make timely, informed decisions by strengthening data and knowledge management approaches, in a collaborative logic with technology companies in the region.
NEW TALENT
Attract and retain talent to the region in order to leverage private and public investment in R&D in the Algarve Region.
DATA SHARING AND ANALYTICS
Promote a regional approach to information sharing that fosters decision-making through the use of analytic technology.
UAlg is a Portuguese public higher education institution located in Algarve, with teaching and research as its core activities in different scientific areas: science and technology, management and economy, earth and marine sciences, social sciences and health.
With 8069 students in 2019/20, UAlg offers 58 graduate and 114 postgraduate programs, and has 830 permanent teaching and research staff, developing a significant number of research projects, enhanced by the research produced by 90 fellowship grant holders demonstrating a clear commitment towards R&D and innovation.
University of Algarve is an entity dedicated to scientific research and the production of knowledge, based on its internal capacity and ressources, namely:
- Approximately 8,000 students (more than 20% of international students)
- 8 Research centers, that assure the knowledge production and knowledge transfer
In the scope of its Third Mission, is developed by the Division of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer of the University of Algarve (UALG CRIA), fostering the relations between academia and the industry, increasing technology and knowledge transfer, supporting the establishment of new innovation and knowledge based companies, and generalizing the use of industrial property rights mechanisms. Complementary, UALG CRIA also acts on the development of technological infrastructures to enhance research and innovation in the Algarve, namely incubation, acceleration, and knowledge valorization and transfer centers.
The intervention areas of CRIA are: Intellectual Property (IP) and Licensing Support, Commercialization and Technology Transfer, Entrepreneurship and Business Development, European Projects and Studies.
The activities of CRIA include:
- fostering an environment of innovation in the region;
- fostering an ‘innovation culture’ in the University of Algarve;
- fostering joint ventures among businesses and academia;
- identifying and supporting applied research and technology transfer projects;
- supporting the creation and attraction of knowledge and technology based companies; supporting national and international networks of cooperation;
