IOTEC

The project under the title "Development of Technological Capabilities for the Industrial Application of the Internet of Things (IOTEC)", aims to promote smart growth through interregional cooperation for the promotion of Innovation in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT).

The IOTEC project will focus its activities in the Central region of Portugal and Castile and León. In these regions, especially on the Portuguese side, we can encounter eminently elderly, rural populations. The level of economic development in these areas is below the regional average.

Increasing the competitiveness of the SMEs located in these territories is the only way of improving productivity and retaining people in the region. This will also allow for interregional exchange of specialized young talent and will help stop the aging of the population. The members of the IOTEC project believe that IoT technologies should be the main driver of this increase in competitiveness. This will be done by specializing ICT SMEs, what will allow them to market new products and services inside and outside the region and by improving the production processes of industrial SMEs, making them more competitive in local, national and international markets. A more competitive SME sector and greater capacity for innovation will create a greater number of specialized jobs in these territories with high youth employment (which multiplied by more than two since 2008 in both regions), this will avoid greater demographic weakness, it will slow down the aging of the population and provide the possibility of remaining in the territory, thus fighting against low population density (currently in 40 hab./km2 in the areas comprehended by the Program).