The project Smart City Lagoa – Living Lab of Collaborative Innovation with Academia, an initiative by the Municipality of Lagoa, has won the 2026 APDC Cities and Future Territories Award in the Economic Development category. The winners of the fifth edition of this initiative were announced on October 7, during the 6th edition of the EVOLVE – Digital Transformation Summit.
The distinction celebrates a digital transformation model that fosters collaboration between public administration, academia, and students. This model aims to create conditions for developing and testing technological solutions applied to specific territorial challenges, functioning as an urban innovation laboratory.
The project includes an Operations Room that gathers, in real-time, data from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors distributed throughout the municipality. This infrastructure enables the monitoring of relevant information and the development of innovative solutions, including technological prototypes and environmental forecasting models.
The active participation of students is a central pillar of the initiative, bridging academic knowledge with the municipality's real needs and encouraging experimentation, creativity, and the development of technological skills.
The jury highlighted the project's innovative nature, its capacity to promote collaboration among different entities, and its potential to accelerate innovation and the territory's economic development. For the Municipality of Lagoa, this award validates the work in modernizing services, valuing knowledge, and creating new opportunities through technology and institutional cooperation.
This recognition underscores the importance of investing in solutions that bring the municipality closer to educational institutions and young people, fostering a more innovative territory prepared for current and future challenges, capable of transforming knowledge into value for the economy and the population's quality of life. With this award, Lagoa consolidates its commitment to innovation, digital transformation, and sustainable development.
