Winning the WSA Portugal 2025 in the Government & Citizen Engagement category marks an important milestone for City as a Platform and for everyone who has contributed to the platform’s growth over the last few years.
The distinction, awarded by APDC – Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications, recognizes City as a Platform as one of Portugal’s leading digital innovation projects with social impact. More importantly, it reinforces the growing relevance of territorial intelligence, operational transparency, and citizen engagement in the future of urban management.
This recognition means that City as a Platform will now represent Portugal at the global edition of the World Summit Awards, competing alongside digital solutions from more than 180 countries.
What are the World Summit Awards?
The World Summit Awards (WSA) are among the world’s most recognized initiatives dedicated to digital innovation and social impact. Created in 2003 and promoted in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the initiative highlights digital solutions that create meaningful impact for citizens, organizations, and communities.
The competition evaluates projects across several categories, including:
Government & Citizen Engagement
Smart Settlements & Urbanization
Environment & Green Energy
Health & Wellbeing
Learning & Education
Inclusion & Empowerment
Business & Commerce
Culture & Heritage
In Portugal, the awards are coordinated by APDC, which selects the national representatives for each category.
Being selected in the Government & Citizen Engagement category represents an important recognition of the role City as a Platform has played in helping municipalities improve operational management, citizen communication, and territorial intelligence.
Supporting Smarter and More Connected Territories
Over the years, City as a Platform has evolved into a flexible urban management platform used by municipalities, organizations, and operational teams to monitor, manage, and optimize territorial operations in real time.
The platform currently supports more than 50 municipalities and organizations in Portugal, helping teams improve operational awareness and decision-making across areas such as:
Civil protection
Environment
Public services
Citizen engagement
One of the key differentiators of City as a Platform is its no-code philosophy, allowing municipalities and operational teams to create and adapt applications according to their own needs without depending on complex development cycles or external technical resources.
Combined with a highly intuitive user experience inspired by the simplicity of modern mapping platforms, this flexibility helps organizations accelerate innovation while improving accessibility and adoption across teams.
More than a technology platform, City as a Platform aims to democratize territorial intelligence by making real-time operational information accessible to both municipalities and citizens.
Next Steps on the Global Stage
Following the national recognition, City as a Platform now moves into the international phase of the competition, which includes:
International jury evaluation
Global online pitch presentations
Potential inclusion in the WSA global shortlist
Participation in the WSA World Congress 2026 in Vienna
This new stage represents an opportunity not only to showcase Portuguese innovation internationally, but also to demonstrate how municipalities and public organizations can leverage digital tools to build more transparent, sustainable, and citizen-centric territories.
A Recognition Shared with Municipalities and Partners
This distinction reflects the work and collaboration of all municipalities, organizations, and partners who use City as a Platform daily to improve services, increase operational efficiency, and strengthen communication with citizens.
From large urban centers such as Lisbon and Vila Nova de Famalicão to smaller municipalities and local councils, every implementation contributes to validating the platform’s vision for smarter territorial management.
As City as a Platform moves forward to represent Portugal internationally, this achievement is shared with every organization helping shape more connected and resilient communities.
Let’s take this vision to the global stage together.
FAQ
Common questions
WSA Portugal is the national edition of the World Summit Awards, recognizing innovative digital projects with social impact across several categories.
City as a Platform won in the Government & Citizen Engagement category.
The platform will represent Portugal internationally in the global WSA competition alongside projects from more than 180 countries.
City as a Platform is an urban management and territorial intelligence platform that helps municipalities monitor, manage, and optimize operations in real time.
The platform is currently used by more than 27 municipalities and organizations in Portugal.