Campo Maior, Portugal, July 15, 2025 (Lusa) - Authorities announced on Tuesday that they have refurbished a former primary school in Campo Maior, in the district of Portalegre, to house the Alentejo Competitive Intelligence Centre, which they will inaugurate on Wednesday, with an investment of around €1 million.
The project, promoted by the municipality in partnership with NOVA Information Management School, Universidade Nova de Lisboa and the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, aims to put data, artificial intelligence and technological innovation at the service of the region’s development.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the scientific coordinator of the space, Miguel de Castro Neto, explained that the Alentejo Competitive Intelligence Centre (CIC Alentejo) aims to create a knowledge base about the region, in a project the centre has developed using historical data, demography, economics, mobility, tourism, sustainability and digitalisation, among other areas.
“We then analyse this from the point of view of very specific aspects, such as climate risks, risks of extreme events, the impact of events such as a trade fair, for example, we can inform (the local authority) of the economic impact of the event, the value of economic transactions made by electronic means of payment on the following Monday,” he explained.
Miguel Castro Neto, also director of the Nova Information Management School at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, further explained that CIC Alentejo will be able to “measure” the economic impact of an event, as well as determine how many people and their respective nationalities participated in the initiative.
CIC Alentejo comprises three rooms that support specialised services, namely the “immersive room”, dedicated to creating value through analytical approaches based on multidimensional knowledge about the Alentejo region. Users can explore this knowledge through three different lenses: intelligence, sustainability, and governance.
The ‘Collaborative Room’ focuses on applying analytical approaches to innovation processes, exploring the potential of data science and artificial intelligence in the regional economy through pilot projects and co-creation with companies, government and other local entities.
Finally, the “Training Room” is dedicated to face-to-face and distance learning programmes in areas that are critical for the competitiveness of organisations today.
With a multidimensional regional knowledge base and the aim of supporting companies, public administration, educational and research institutions, and civil society, CIC Alentejo also seeks to boost the development of data-driven products and services with an impact on strategic sectors in the region, such as agriculture, food, energy, and tourism.
CIC Alentejo will also offer specialised training for companies and public administration in emerging areas such as information management, data science, artificial intelligence and analytical marketing, among others.
Miguel Castro Neto also said that CIC Alentejo “is a hub that focuses on revitalising and training human resources in the business sector” so that they can acquire analytical skills.
With a “small but highly qualified” team, Miguel Castro Neto hopes to have “three highly qualified resources” at CIC Alentejo within a year and to “double” this number within three years.
A source from the Campo Maior Municipality told Lusa that CIC Alentejo received an investment of over €991,000, with the local authority contributing 15% of the total cost of the work.
Authorities will inaugurate CIC Alentejo on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.
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Lusa
