Nova SBE opens innovation ecosystem at the Carcavelos campus

"The motto of this Innovation Ecosystem should be a quote from Jack Welch: "when change in the context around you is greater than change in your organisation, your end is very close"," began Daniel Traça, Dean of Nova SBE, at the opening ceremony of the Innovation Ecosystem, adding that this space should become a place to develop "new products, new ideas and ways to disrupt business".

This living lab aims to create a community of impact on society, in a logic of co-creation, fostering an environment in which companies and entrepreneurs can explore, fail, learn, improve, and transform ideas into solutions and solutions into results.

Nova SBE Innovation Ecosystem also aims to accelerate innovation processes in business, helping in the ideation of processes, products and services, validation of concepts, prototyping, acceleration, and incubation of start-ups, data generation and academic research and in the development of talent, allocating students to develop specific projects with companies.

"This campus is no longer a space for teaching. Universities have to become places of learning. That means you start learning not just because the faculty asks you to, but you learn because of everything that's happening on campus, because companies and events are here, there's culture, and everything you're going to go through becomes an opportunity to learn. And I think this is the campus of the 21st century - a place where learning is transversal, it crosses all the daily activities, 24 hours a day, in a place that comes alive. And this Innovation Ecosystem is a cornerstone on this path".

"We can increase creativity and innovation if we work together," reinforced Rui Coutinho, Executive Director of the Nova SBE Innovation Ecosystem. "Our Innovation Ecosystem aims to create a community of innovators, who really understand that what is expected from business and companies is changing rapidly. Business as usualis not good enough, it is economically risky, environmentally stupid, socially unacceptable and legally dangerous. So we have to build the next generation of business and that is the purpose that unites us."

To this end, the Nova SBE Innovation Ecosystem hosts resident innovation teams from national and international companies at the Carcavelos campus and provides incubation and business development for start-ups.

Currently, the Nova SBE Innovation Ecosystem starts a set of 8 partner companies - Grupo Ageas Portugal, CEiiA, CyberGym, INCM Lab, Morais Leitão, Oceano Fresco, Schréder and SIBS -, among others, among other partner companies that act as enablers of the Ecosystem, such as NOS, and with more than 60 start-ups incubated, in these different areas.

This open community at the Nova SBE campus in Carcavelos is subdivided into three spaces:

" The NOVA SBE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM, which aggregates:

- NOVA SBE CO.INNOVATION LAB - a space to transform organisations in a collaborative and experimental way

- NOVA SBE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE LAB - to empower digital transformation.

- NOVA SBE DATA LAB - dedicated to data management.

" The NOVA SBE HADDAD ENTREPRENEURSHIP INSTITUTE, focused on projects associated with the incubation and early acceleration of start-ups launched by students of the university.

" The NOVA SBE WESTMONT INSTITUTE OF TOURISM & HOSPITALITY,a dedicated space for innovation in the hospitality, services, and tourism sector.