Four decades of innovation and entrepreneurship
On October 8th, the second session celebrating the 40 years of INESC will take place. Few things have remained unchanged in these four decades, as witnessed by those who are reading these lines and have participated in the creation of the institution, in the 1980s. Technologies, tools, people and institutions have all changed. What remains the same is the enthusiasm that led the founders of the institution to believe that knowledge, competence and hard work could make the country change for the better. INESC, which has become a group with institutions in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra, in addition to other locations that, over time, have followed their own ways, has always been a place where knowledge was applied to create innovation and value for the society.
This first resulted of this push for innovation was the creation of a new institutional model, based on private non-profit organizations (NPOs), independent and autonomous, but with strong links with universities. In time, this model became the most popular model for research and development institutions in Portugal. There are now hundreds of NPOs that have copied or adapted the institutional model first pioneered by INESC.
But the push for innovation also led to the creation of new startups, based on the knowledge and technologies developed in the research institutions of the INESC group. The session on October 8th focuses precisely on this process of creating value by incorporating knowledge and intellectual property in new startups, created by entrepreneurs who were once part of INESC, and who have themselves become national references in entrepreneurship and innovation. We invited the CEOs of eight companies, from the more than two dozen enterprises that were created as a result of INESC’s activities since 1980. Four of these companies were created more than two decades ago, and the other four were created only in the last decade. The CEOs and founders of these companies will share with us the experience and memories that always remain from a process that is often painful but always instructive.
We hope that these four decades of experience inspire the next entrepreneurs, those who will believe enough in their ideas to push them to face the challenge of creating, promoting and developing new companies. With the evolution of technology and the different and more open economic framework of today, we now live in an environment that is increasingly competitive and challenging but also, curiously, more amenable to the creation of innovative solutions with global impact.
Arlindo Oliveira
INESC Diretor
IST Professor
Upcoming Events
OLISSIPO Workshop: “How to design a graphical abstract” with Dr. Rita Félix (CNC-UC)
On April 19, the OLISSIPO project will host an 8-hour workshop titled “How to design a graphical abstract” with Dr. Rita Félix, a science communicator, illustrator and designer from CNC Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (Coimbra, Portugal). Registration is free and seating is limited.
Registration Deadline: April 5 | Register here (free but mandatory)
Date & Time: April 19, 09h00-18h00 ( 8-hours)
Where: INESC-ID, R. Alves Redol 9, 1000-029 Lisboa | Room 9 (Auditorium), Ground Floor
Summary: “How to design a graphical abstract” Workshop aims to explain what a graphical abstract is, and give you design tools and tips on how to create a better, clear and engaging graphical abstract. This workshop is tailored to give you tools and improve your graphical abstract, without having to learn how to use a new software program (like Adobe Illustrator). Bring your graphical abstract, share it with the class, work on it and take home a new version.
Short Bio: Rita Félix is a science communicator, illustrator and designer, with life sciences research experience. Currently working as the Institutional Communication Manager and Designer at CNC-UC. She completed her PhD in Neuroscience in 2020, in the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme. After that, she enrolled in a Digital Illustration Specialization Course to further develop her visualization and design skills. Worked as a Scientific Graphic Designer at Science Crunchers, a science communication company, where she developed multiple graphical abstracts, article figures, infographics, diagrams, illustrations, visual identity, logos and webdesign for companies, scientific institutions and Horizon 2020 consortia. More information at https://ritallfelix.wixsite.com/portfolio .
INESC-ID talk: “Rise of the AI-Empowered End User Software Engineer” by Ed Ayers and Andy Gordon (Cogna)
On April 19, INESC-ID will host a talk by Ed Ayers and Andy Gordon from the startup Cogna. The talk is titled “Rise of the AI-Empowered End User Software Engineer” and is organised by INESC-ID researcher Nuno Lopes.
Date & Time: April 19, 15h00 -16h00
Where: INESC-ID, Rua Alves Redol, 9, 1000-029 Lisboa | Room 9 (Auditorium), Ground Floor
Summary:
“What if natural language really is the new programming language? Inspired by the transformation of professional software engineering by generative AI, let’s take the next step: empowering end users. We can boost their productivity with hyper-customized software generated from natural language. This challenge needs research right across software engineering: requirements, architecture, coding, testing, verification, repair, and maintenance. We will survey current progress and open research questions in this exciting new area of programming language research.”
(Photo: Cogna website)