Lisbon moves towards sustainable mobility

Another edition of Smart Open Lisboa (SOL), the open innovation program that brings together Lisbon City Council and the collaborative innovation consultancy Beta-i to improve the quality of life in the Portuguese capital, has come to an end. During this edition, which culminated on April 9 in the Showcase Day where the pilot projects were able to present their solutions, the focus was on promoting sustainable urban mobility in Lisbon, in line with the carbon neutrality objectives for 2030.
The four pilot projects that have reached the final stage of the program seek to tackle the challenges identified in the program: promoting the development of smart cities and urban mobility through automated, connected, electric, and shared vehicles; improving the mobility logistics of cities using data; encouraging sustainability and energy transition and improving the consumer experience.

Among the ideas that got to the final there is a solution that could revolutionize lost and found logistics on public transport. With the support of Carris, the integration of this pilot project's app will make the management of lost objects clearer, safer, and more efficient, with a platform that will bring together all the items that have been forgotten and found. In addition to this innovation, software for optimizing logistical routes that can make the routes of vehicles and goods more sustainable from an economic and environmental point of view, an application to make the process of controlling and managing the charging of electric buses more efficient and chatbots that allow for the automation of online responses also have their place in the final phase of the program.

The most recent edition of the SOL program focusing on the mobility vertical saw the participation of partners Brisa, Carris, EDP, Luís Simões, and Super Bock, who supported the startups' innovative solutions for carbon neutrality and energy transition.

According to the Councilor for Economy and Innovation, Diogo Moura, "Lisbon does not abdicate its leading and inspiring role and is therefore strongly committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. What's more, for this executive, the city is made with the participation and involvement of citizens, associations, and companies. We don't have a closed, centralist vision of public policies. That's why we are firmly convinced that our open innovation strategy, through the sharing of ideas and experiences between companies, startups, investors, and stakeholders, promotes and stimulates the innovation needed for new projects and a new co-constructed future; a more inclusive, more sustainable, and more prosperous future for all. Hence the importance we attach to programs like SOL."

Gustavo Magalhães, director at Beta-i also says that "society as we know it is highly dependent on a good and efficient transportation network in cities. Improving the sustainability of urban mobility is a strategic axis in the city of Lisbon, and it is necessary to combat the growing numbers of carbon dioxide emissions in the capital. Both Beta-i and the Lisbon City Council have recognized this challenge and have committed themselves to make a difference in the energy transition through collaborative innovation with the various editions of the SOL program."

Since 2022, Lisbon has made a European commitment to become carbon dioxide (CO2) neutral by 2030, a challenging but urgent goal, given that data from the Lisbon 2030 Climate Action Plan indicates that approximately 43% of CO2 emissions in the capital come from the mobility and transport sector.

SOL Mobility is one of the vertical programs of Smart Open Lisboa, an open innovation initiative by the Lisbon City Council and managed by Beta-i, focused on validating and integrating innovative solutions created to improve life in cities.