At the European Commission's invitation, TecMinho presented, last 13th of December in Brussels, the general outlines of the current state of 4.0 Industry in the Northern region of Portugal. As the final event of the Regional Innovation Monitor initiative, this meeting was attended by several European Commission officials as well as representatives from various European regions who discussed ongoing activities in Europe to promote 4.0 Industry.

Launched in 2010 by the European Commission's Directorate-General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG Growth), the Regional Innovation Monitor has monitored innovation policies in the 28 countries of the European Union's regions, including Regional innovation strategies, public policy instruments in support of innovation and monitoring of regional RTD and innovation performance.

In recent years, the focus of the Regional Innovation Monitor has focused on advanced industry and on best practices implemented by the regions to provide the various industrial sectors with new technologies, processes and business models.

Augusto Ferreira, TecMinho's CEO, highlighted the importance of manufacturing in the economy of the north region of Portugal, in particular the role of the production technology sector in the dissemination of industry concepts and 4.0 practices. In his speech, he also pointed out the main changes that have occurred in recent years in regional innovation strategies in the north of the country, with special emphasis on smart specialization, investment priorities, governance and financing mechanisms.

More information about the event can be found here.