Unite!Widening Digital Campus: the new European bridge between knowledge, innovation and businesses

Jesús Alcober from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya is the coordinator of aUPaEU project, responsible for  create the Agora platform, and he himself presented the initial features of it: access to digital resources, virtual mobility, integrated tools for research, research ideas pool, catalogues of internships and doctoral topics, and new instruments for business challenges. He also highlighted the potential of this event and of the Unite!Widening Digital Campus as the ‘starting meeting point between businesses and academia’ that will allow the development of Agora, to  bringing  companies and SMEs closer to the research, knowledge and talent infrastructures available throughout the Unite! Alliance.

The Agora platform, initially developed to facilitate access to acceleration services inside the Unite! Alliance, now aims to involve companies creating a trusted community for co-creation, training and knowledge sharing; increasing their visibility through demonstrations, events and success stories; providing data and information that helps them make better decisions and collaboration choices; and, finally, strengthening talent pipelines for future recruitment and innovation.

This session was opened by Cecília Rodrigues, Vice-Rector of ULisboa, who highlighted the role of platforms such as Agora in bringing together institutions, researchers, students and external partners. The Vice-Rector of ULisboa also stressed the growing importance of entrepreneurial universities, referring to the contribution of studies such as the ULisboa Startup Impact Report 2025, which positions the University as a driving force in the country's entrepreneurial and technological transformation.

Alberto Rodrigues Silva, former Secretary of State for Modernisation and Digitalisation and professor at Técnico, ULisboa, gave a presentation on the theme ‘Digitalisation as a Bridge between Universities, Research Centres and Enterprises’. The professor highlighted digitalisation as a ‘central link’ between knowledge, people and innovation, accelerating the transition from research to real applications. He also reinforced the alignment of the Digital Campus with the European Digital Decade 2030, based on four pillars: skills, infrastructure, businesses and digital public services. On the other hand, he pointed out opportunities in areas such as AI, cloud computing, open data and shared infrastructure.

Rui Mendes, Director for Internattional Affiars at Tecnico, ULisboa, and member of the coordination team of the Unite!Widening project, presented the objectives and results achieved by this initiative, which seeks to raise excellence in research, science and innovation in higher education institutions in Widening countries. Rui Mendes also highlighted initiatives that will take place in the scope of the Unite!Widening project, such as the organization of 2 hackathons, and the role that Agora platform can play in boosting European academic and business communities.

Fernando Mira da Silva, professor at Técnico, ULisboa, presented the evolution of Community 2 of the Unite! Alliance, dedicated to the development of the Digital Campus, highlighting the challenges of integrating teaching, research and communication systems between European universities, as well as the main results already achieved.

Due to the importance of the Digital Campus as a platform that aims to connect academia with businesses, a pitching session was held at this event, featuring three guest companies, IdMind, HealthTech/CRIAM and CNS, which shared their entrepreneurial journey, their connection to academia and suggestions for improving the Agora platform.

CNS highlighted its 34 clinical trials conducted over 12 years and 180 published articles, also mentioning collaboration challenges. IdMind and CRIAM emphasised opportunities to strengthen open innovation and technology transfer through the Digital Campus.

Moderated by Pedro Rebordão, from LISPOLIS (non-academic partner of the Unite!Widening project), the round table that closed this event opened the floor to a conversation between the academic and the business speakers and to questions from the in-person audience. Among the most frequently mentioned topics were the importance of ensuring up-to-date information on the platform, concerns about implementation and sustainability, and the need to strengthen the participation of companies and entrepreneurs.

This event marked a decisive step in the construction of an integrated European digital ecosystem, where cooperation, digital skills and sustainable innovation play a central role.