The Porto Metropolitan Area (AMP) will take a central role in the implementation of the PITCH – Porto Innovation and Technology Community Hub, a project that aims to create an innovation and technology ecosystem on a metropolitan scale, bringing together knowledge, research, companies and territory.

"This is the future, considering the development of the region in the medium and long term", said the president of the Porto Metropolitan Council, Pedro Duarte, at the end of a meeting in which the PITCH project was presented by Professor António Fontainhas Fernandes to the 17 mayors of the region. The meeting was also attended by the rectors of the University of Porto, Pedro Nuno Teixeira, and the Technical University of Porto, Paulo Pereira.

With a dimension that goes beyond the limits of a single municipality, the PITCH aims to create a large innovation and technology platform on a regional scale, bringing together universities, companies, research, startups and territory, which could raise new opportunities for economic development, strengthen the ability to attract investment, create skilled jobs and retain talent.

The creation of such a structure will allow the installation of companies, research centres, laboratories, prototyping centres and innovation structures in different points of the territory, contributing to the creation of new development centres within the Porto Metropolitan Area.

It is precisely this territorial dimension that is gaining expression in the development of the project. Several municipalities have already expressed their willingness to contribute to its implementation, through the provision of venues to accommodate different valences of the PITCH. Matosinhos, Maia, Gondomar and Valongo expressed this availability during the meeting of the Porto Metropolitan Council. Something that Pedro Duarte sees “with great satisfaction”.

“This project is very important. It can be strategic for this whole region, for the Metropolitan Area, for the North region and for the country. The municipalities are willing to participate, and I think it is important that the network also expands from this point of view. I have no doubt that other municipalities will come forward, creating a healthy competition, if necessary, to have development centres", said Pedro Duarte.

For the leader of the AMP, the nature of the project calls for a broader scale. "Owing to the nature of the project, it makes perfect sense that it can be taken on a larger scale, on a metropolitan scale", said Pedro Duarte, stressing its potential for the development of the region in the medium and long term.

The PITCH was born from an initiative of the Municipality of Porto, in articulation with the University of Porto and the Technical University of Porto, but the evolution of the project showed the potential for a metropolitan approach.

The initiative is being explored at a time when a new cycle of Community funding is approaching. For Pedro Duarte, this situation may represent an opportunity to carry out a project with the capacity to generate economic, technological and territorial impact, strengthening the region's position as a space of knowledge, innovation and competitiveness.

Photo: Andreia Merca/Porto City Council