Big cities don’t get to keep all the tech action. For the third year in a row, Viana do Castelo is part of Portugal Tech Week, the Portugal tech festival that spreads innovation well beyond Lisbon. On November 6, the city hosts a new Viana do Castelo Tech Day, open to the whole tech community in the region.
One day, many formats
The event runs from 10:00 to 19:00 and is organized by the 351 Portuguese Startup Association with Dinamo10 Creative Hub, Untile, the Technological Cooperative and the City Council through Viana STARTS. Two partners are new this year: the Polytechnic University of Viana do Castelo and the Viana Innovators group.
Compared with last year, there are twice as many workshops and panels, with a special focus on university students and founders. The aim is to get startups, companies, investors, academia and students in the Alto Minho region talking to each other.
Workshops and a think tank
Two sessions run in the morning:
- Data Center Lab: Myths, Facts and Governance, from 10:30 to 11:30 at the Technological Cooperative’s headquarters. It’s a hands-on session with no computers and no technical prerequisites, limited to 15 people.
- Think Tank Viana STARTS, at 10:00 and 12:00 at DINAMO10, free for up to 20 participants. In small groups, people look at the resources and skills the city already has, the challenges ahead and ideas for collaboration between science, technology and the arts.
Registration for both is handled through the event pages.
Pitch Battle on a century-old elevator
The afternoon moves to the Santa Luzia Elevator. From 2 pm to 5 pm, entrepreneurs present business ideas to a jury of investors and industry professionals. Applications stay open until October 23. Pitching on a century-old landmark is a nice twist, a bit like giving your elevator pitch in an actual elevator.
After the stage
A panel called “After the Elevator: What Happened to the Ideas” brings back people from earlier Pitch editions to share what became of their projects. Speakers will be announced soon.
The day ends in the Experimental Room of the Sá de Miranda Municipal Theatre, with a panel called “From Viana to the Market” on scaling a business from a smaller city, followed by the Pitch Battle winners and a networking session.
Why it matters for innovation events in Portugal
Viana’s Tech Day shows how technology events in Portugal now reach many corners of the country. For innovation events like this to matter, they need local partners and regular participants, and Viana has both. If you like exploring digital innovation events, this is one to note, and technology companies looking for regional talent may find it worth a visit.
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