Quidgest and Cascais Municipality win the Equality and Inclusion Award at the Cities & Territories of the Future Awards by APDC
The Cascais Social Charter was the project awarded, and the award ceremony took place yesterday as part of the 33rd Congress of the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC), this year themed “40 years Futurizing.”
Quidgest (technology provider) and Cascais Municipality (initiative promoter) received the award for their joint work on the Cascais Social Charter – an interactive digital platform providing citizens with information about public, solidarity, and private for-profit social equipment and responses available in the municipality of Cascais.
This portal serves as an important diagnostic tool for social resources and supports political decision-making regarding planning the social equipment and services network in the municipality. The information is organized into 11 major action domains where existing social responses can be found: General Community; Children and Youth; Adults with Disabilities; People with Addictive Behaviors and their Families; People with Mental Health Issues; People with HIV/AIDS and their Families; People in Situations of Dependency; Homeless People; Elderly People; Victims of Violence; Foreign Residents.
Pedro Nobre, Sales Manager for Local Public Administration at Quidgest, said this award reflects Quidgest’s commitment to the category in which it was awarded – “Equality and Inclusion,” and to the other Sustainable Development Goals included in the UN Agenda 2030.
“Receiving an award like this is extremely gratifying, as it serves as an incentive to continue our path of innovation, reinvention, and technological excellence at Quidgest, which has been ongoing for 36 years”, he said, adding that “the Cascais Social Charter is not just a technological tool. It is a project with a significant impact on the community and people, improving resource mapping and management and bringing social support and services closer to those who need them most.”
Frederico Pinho de Almeida, Councilor for Social Action and Education at Cascais Municipality, also highlighted the “excellent dynamism of the Cascais Social Network and the excellent work of its partners. It is thanks to everyone and the cohesion of the Network that Cascais can respond to all people and be a national example.”
In his on-stage speech during the award ceremony, Frederico Pinho de Almeida explained that the Cascais Social Network “is a network of excellence” composed of 138 entities. “And we are a network of excellence planning and implementing a strategy defined at the municipal level and then in its operationalization. But all this would be incomplete if we did not have, of course, the technology to accompany the community support response. Quidgest has been an excellent partner, and we have made this journey together, which has been a privilege for us.”
- Photos of the Cities & Territories of the Future Awards ceremony are available here.
- List of winners, categories and juries of the Cities & Territories of the Future Awards available here.