PORTUGAL REGISTERS A NEW DIGITAL REGION WITH ITS GAZE FIRMLY TRAINED ON THE WIDER WORLD, WHERE THERE ARE NO LIMITS TO WORKING WELL AND LIVING BETTER
Unapologetic, ambitious, and passionate about technology, the Algarve Tech Hub (ATH) aims to revolutionise the Algarve region, transforming it into a global, competitive tech and innovation destination. The ATH is working towards an ambitious objective: attracting people passionate about technology who value their quality of life; start-ups, digital nomads, ‘remote workers’, investors, and students. To do so, it will kick off the operations of this southern European digital region by launching an international competition to attract new talent to the region.
Armed with the knowledge that to reach large audiences, they would need a substantial platform, the Algarve Tech Hub is set to make its first mark at the Web Summit 2022, the most prestigious entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation conference in Europe, which will run from the 1st to the 4th November in Lisbon. Almost 43 thousand participants and over 700 speakers attended last year’s edition of what is one of the largest gatherings of entrepreneurs worldwide.
The ATH’s vision is firmly trained on empowering the regional technological ecosystem, giving it the tools it needs to strengthen innovation across various locations in the region – allowing its members to pull onto the digital revolution motorway at maximum speed. This is the path traced by the ATH, shining a spotlight on business innovation in the Algarve, seeking to establish the region as southern Europe’s leading Tech & Innovation Hub allied with a high-quality lifestyle. A project that has been running for over 10 years, born from an idea sown by a team of professionals from the public and private sectors, its turning point came with the launching of the first technological hub at the University of Algarve – the UALG TEC CAMPUS.
Along the way, dreams and desires have aligned, and Portugal and the Algarve, in particular, have become leading destinations for digital nomads, remote workers, and freelancers from all over the world seeking several factors available here from an outdoor lifestyle to an affordable cost of living, safety, and, not least, straightforward residency pathways. Meanwhile, entrepreneurial hoteliers, having recognised the new demand, have begun providing options of longer stays for digital nomads, and the government has launched a new 180-day visa for non-EU/EEA/Swiss skilled professionals, aiding accessibility in a way that is adapted to the real needs of those who come to live here.
It is this track – the path of innovation and knowledge – that the Algarve Tech Hub seeks to make available to the many who choose the Algarve as the place to settle.
To make this possible, next year’s Algarve Tech Hub Summit will bring with it an initiative. At the event, at least 100 digital passes will be awarded to entrepreneurs, startups, investors, and talents worldwide, allowing them to discover this new digital region springing up in southern Portugal. Which opportunities will be available to them, and when will they arrive? Who will these rigorously selected people be? The Algarve Tech Hub will provide all the details in only a few weeks, at its debut in this year’s edition of the Web Summit. For now, it can be revealed that this initiative, which is the first of its kind in Portugal, will instigate a global competition.
A joint initiative to attract creative and innovative minds to the Algarve, it contributes to enriching a region that encompasses Faro and Lagos, international benchmark locations for both startups and digital nomads. It will be a unique, inclusive experience for talents with a world vision who know how to put their ideas into practice. All are welcome in the Algarve – a location where the smallest detail can make the biggest difference. Where a drive for technological growth is combined with the DNA of a region known for its open, welcoming nature. The Algarve, which is quickly becoming a benchmark technological hub in southern Europe, makes everyone feel at home without feeling that they have left their homes in the first place. It provides safety, good conversations, excellent year-round weather, the sea and the hills, renowned cuisine, quality infrastructures and the joy of living. The Algarve inspires its residents to be happy and do better.
Because the Algarve is, after all, the best region in which to live and work.
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