On 11 March 2026, the United Nations University - Operating Unit on Policy-driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV) welcomed the Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and of State Reform, Gonçalo Matias, to its premises in Guimarães. The meeting took place as part of the Minister’s engagement at the facilities of the Agency for Technological Reform of the State, IP (ARTE).
The Director of UNU-EGOV, Delfina Soares, congratulated the country and the Minister on the gradual progress that Portugal has been made in the area of digital transformation. “We are aware that Portugal is seen internationally as a benchmark country in many areas of digital governance”, she added, recognizing, nevertheless, that much can still be done.
Gonçalo Matias expressed his satisfaction with the progress and pointed to Artificial Intelligence “as an accelerator” of the next efforts of the digital transformation process, underlining, however, “the need to carry out this process in a responsible and conscious manner”.
Delfina Soares also highlighted the “privileged ecosystem established in Guimarães” that arises from the synergies between the City Council, the University of Minho, ARTE and UNU-EGOV, and the relevant role that this ecosystem could play as a living lab to bolster the digital transformation of Portugal at national and local level.
The Mayor of Guimarães, Ricardo Araújo, expressed his concern for citizens, saying that “it is necessary to place citizens at the centre of all efforts, since all digital transformation processes must have a direct impact on their lives”, a view that was shared by all those present.
The Mayor also reinforced his strong support in promoting the growing of the digital governance ecosystem in the city, and this way to give another step to move the city from the “cradle of the nation to the cradle of innovation”.
