Portuguese woman wins European Prize for Innovative Women

What if the Internet was in moving things? This was the idea behind the creation of Veniamthe technology startup that turns vehicles such as cabs and buses into wireless access points, deploying city-wide mobile networks at low cost. These hotspots in vehicles can act as sensors, interacting with traffic management systems, creating a network for transmitting information between hotspots on the way to the final destination. The information can be used to improve traffic management and thus help drivers. This technology, with a Portuguese signature, is revolutionizing transport models and mobility in the cities of the future and aims to be a forerunner of the "Internet of moving things" concept

This was the idea that put Susana Sargento on the top of the podium in the European competition Innovative Women 2016out of a total of 64 applications and 9 finalists.

Created in 2011 by the European Commission, this award publicly recognizes the scientific work of women who have managed to create successful business models based on their areas of research. It aims to encourage other women to pursue careers in science and implement their cutting-edge ideas on the market.

Susana Sargento is a researcher in communications networks and has 15 years' experience in leading national and international projects. She is a member of the Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics (DETI) at the University of Aveiro (UA), where, in collaboration with the University of Porto (UP) and with the support of UPTEC - UP's Science and Technology Park and the Carnegie Mellon Portugal - FCT Program, she was co-responsible for the development and launch of the Veniam project in 2012.

The prize of 100,000 euros was awarded on March 10 by the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, in Brussels at an event to mark International Women's Day.

At the ceremony, the Portuguese representative stressed that "This project also symbolizes the enormous potential that exists in Portugal in the area of the digital economy and new technologies" and that "Europe needs to support its innovators more: people who combine scientific excellence and business sense; people who turn their research into job opportunities and who turn their ideas into benefits for our society and our economy".

The second and third prizes, worth 50 and 30 thousand euros respectively, went to researchers from Finland and Ireland.