Launch of the NORTEXCEL2020 Project

The public presentation of the NORTEXCEL2020 initiative took place in Porto in June 2015. This project falls within the European program Teaming and aims to create in the Norte region of Portugal a new innovation centre focused on activities of excellence related with the medical technology domain.

NORTEXCEL2020 is sponsored and coordinated by the Norte Regional Authority (CCDR-N), and comes as a direct follow-up to the region’s Smart Specialization Strategy. The consortium also integrates two more organizations from the low performing region in Portugal, INOVA+ and Polytechnic of Porto, which have previous experience of working together and perfectly complement each other, and the guidance of a very experience partner from a high performing region, the Joanneum Research institute.

The first phase of the project is to be implemented over a 12 month period with the goal of developing a comprehensive, detailed and robust Business Plan that demonstrates the potential of the future centre of excellence for the Norte region. The goal is for the project to move to the second phase which will allow to obtain funding for its consolidation.

Nortexcel2020 aims to position itself as a dynamic innovation actor in Norte, particularly in the areas of health, research and technology transfer, and intends to mobilize different key actors in its initiatives.