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    INESC TEC project bringing citizens closer to local politics wins Prémio Cidades e Territórios do Futuro award

    Launched in January, the CitiLink project is the result of a collaboration between INESC TEC, the University of Beira Interior (UBI) and the University of Porto (UP).

    21st October 2026

    Making municipal information more accessible to citizens by using Artificial Intelligence and natural language processing models to simplify and clarify the content of minutes from municipal council meetings: this is the aim behind CitiLink, a project recently recognised by the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC) at the EVOLVE – Digital Transformation Summit, where it received the 2026 Prémio Cidades e Territórios do Futuro award.

    Developed jointly by INESC TEC, the University of Beira Interior (UBI) and the University of Porto (UP), with funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), CitiLink brought together a wide range of students, researchers and lecturers from the three institutions, working in collaboration with the municipalities of Alandroal, Campo Maior, Covilhã, Fundão, Guimarães and Porto, as well as Porto Digital.

    According to Ricardo Campos, INESC TEC researcher, the project’s coordinator, and lecturer at UBI, the award is “recognition of the work of a multidisciplinary team that has turned a specific challenge in accessing public information into a technological solution with real-world applications, which can now be extended to other municipalities”. The project, he added, is a good example of “how AI research can have a direct impact on society, in this case by helping make information about municipal activities more accessible to citizens”.

    The solutions developed through CitiLink transform lengthy, complex documents into structured information, making it easier to identify the topics discussed, the positions taken by elected representatives and the decisions reached. When presenting the award, the jury highlighted “the innovative nature of the approach and the potential to improve transparency in public administration and promote civic participation, as well as the use of advanced technologies to make public information more accessible and useful”.