Explore.Porto - Porto
City / Region
Porto (Portugal)
In a nutshell
Explore.Porto is an innovative product/service created to challenge citizens and visitors to discover and explore the city through a digital platform, anchored in beacons placed in strategic points around the city.
Explore.Porto is a responsive web application adaptable and available for desktop and mobile. The process is divided into two paths:
1. One for the end user, where citizens and visitors access the web app and explore the city by selecting paths or points of interest. Users also have the opportunity to get more information on the “learn more” button.
2. And one for partners, where actors in the city register on the platform as new administrators, create a point of interest or mobility entry by entering and validating the information that will appear.
Digital resources are used to integrate different types of dispersed information and provide it in real time, in an accessible and intuitive way, centered on the user's needs and interests.
Starting from the identification of a point of interest within the city, the service allows the citizen to define the best path and way of mobility, which contributes to an adequate planning of the visit and discovery. Citizens/visitors equipped with a smartphone can instantly obtain information about where they are and their surroundings (through visible signage at the location), as well as the best way to get around.
What makes the service user-centric?
By bringing together public and private partners, who provide services of public interest, Explore.Porto breaks with the type of services designed in the light of existing structures (which tend to be compartmentalised) to focus them on the user, which has a considerable impact on the adoption of local services.
It is also an innovation factor that the service initiative was launched by a public entity and made available free of charge. This factor is completely in line with the city's innovation policies, joining the initiatives to provide free internet and Porto Digital's digital network infrastructure, which promote city data integration solutions. It also reinforces the municipality's initiative to provide data and open platforms.
In this service, digital assumes a central, aggregating and innovative role. Digital public services that are provided by local authorities should be easily findable and accessible. That's why the entire service is developed in a digital environment, encouraging people to use digital services.
The non-digital infrastructure support is used to reinforce communication, the automatic and quick identification of the physical point where the visitor is and the innovation strategy that seeks to combine the two realities.
The 2021 results reveal a strong usage rate, especially considering the fact that it started in a completely organic way and only started to be released after the launch of the App in June 2021. More than 56,000 users with a return rate of more than 30%.
It is also an innovation factor that the service initiative was launched by a public entity and made available free of charge. This factor is completely in line with the city's innovation policies, joining the initiatives to provide free internet and Porto Digital's digital network infrastructure, which promote city data integration solutions. It also reinforces the municipality's initiative to provide data and open platforms.
In this service, digital assumes a central, aggregating and innovative role. Digital public services that are provided by local authorities should be easily findable and accessible. That's why the entire service is developed in a digital environment, encouraging people to use digital services.
The non-digital infrastructure support is used to reinforce communication, the automatic and quick identification of the physical point where the visitor is and the innovation strategy that seeks to combine the two realities.
The 2021 results reveal a strong usage rate, especially considering the fact that it started in a completely organic way and only started to be released after the launch of the App in June 2021. More than 56,000 users with a return rate of more than 30%.
What impact has the service had?
Companies / local administration:
Formation of partnerships and establishment of networks for the development of projects:
Explore.Porto is a creation of the Municipality of Porto and the result of a collaboration between the various departments of the Municipality, Porto Digital, STCP (Sociedade de Transporte Colectivos do Porto), Metro do Porto, ATP (Association of Tourism Porto and North), Tourism of Porto and North and private entities, in the case of Taxis. This partnership proved to be essential for the development of an integrated service focused on the needs and interests of the citizen/visitor.
International partnerships are also noteworthy. The use of the Digitransit platform is the result of networking with Helsinki, which resulted in a first version of the platform. There is also a high interest from other Portuguese cities and well as European cities in adopting and adapting this platform to other urban environments, and the project is being developed in an open way for Explore.City, a platform that can be made available to other cities to adapt to their needs and reality.
Investment strategy and incentive for employee training:
Having been created based on the platforms of Digitransit, PELIAS and Open street maps, training was required by the Porto Digital team, which developed the app, to use the full potential of the selected platforms. The development of Explore.Porto took into account the different users of the platform. With a view to ensuring the contribution of all partners (page users dedicated to the introduction of new data), training sessions were held in the area of data and insertion into the platform.
Open Source and Technology:
The project to create the ROPI (Official Repository of Points of Interest) and the Explore.Porto application are part of a digital innovation strategy based on integrated development and open source, which has being implemented by the city of Porto. ROPI, the official repository of information on points of interest (POI) and events in the city of Porto, aims to centralise information and make it accessible in an open way through databases that feed other products such as Explore.Porto, maintaining an open data interface for public consultation. The integration of data from various departments and entities (namely from Turismo do Porto e Norte or private taxi companies) through digital processes and the provision of a page where partners can enter/update data, allows centralized access and constantly updated to tourism and mobility information. The creation of an integration, conversion and interoperability API allows data from different sources to be integrated into the Explore.Porto.
For citizens:
The platform offers a remarkable added value to the tourist level, whether the tourist has a pre-defined plan or prefers a more circumstantial discovery of the city. Facilitating convenient, safe and real-time planning.
• Itinerary suggestions: plan a route, get real-time information about public transport
• Alerts on temporary changes to the normal operation of public transport routes
• Identification of points of interest near the current location
• Selection of favourites: save routes or points of interest that we want to have available
• Exploration of points of interest in the city: with access to description, history, address and opening hours and relevant updated information
• Possibility of categorising points of interest by those who introduce them to the platform
• Provide useful and reliable information on mobility and points of interest in the city of Porto;
• Moving from planned information (GTFS) to real-time information (GTFSRT);
Positive impacts generated and/or induced by the project on tourism development:
Porto has been asserting itself as a highly sought after city in terms of tourism and with a strong development in this area and, in this sense, Explore.Porto offers a remarkable added value, whether the tourist has a pre-defined plan or prefers a more circumstantial discovery of the city. Following the trend of tourist growth and the importance of serving the resident citizen, the platform is available in both Portuguese and English.
By bringing together public and private partners, who provide services of public interest, Explore.Porto breaks with the type of services designed in the light of existing structures (which tend to be compartmentalised) to focus them on the user, which has a considerable impact on the adoption of local services.
Contribution and initiatives promoted by the project aimed at environmental sustainability:
The integration of different forms of mobility, smooth mobility, public transport and taxis contributes positively to their valorisation, investing in an innovative way in the promotion of less polluting means of transport and alternatives to the car. The optimisation of routes, proposed by Explore.Porto, favours the reduction of unnecessary environmental emissions. The application's greatest contribution to environmental sustainability is related to the optimisation of routes and the enhancement of less polluting means of transport.
Formation of partnerships and establishment of networks for the development of projects:
Explore.Porto is a creation of the Municipality of Porto and the result of a collaboration between the various departments of the Municipality, Porto Digital, STCP (Sociedade de Transporte Colectivos do Porto), Metro do Porto, ATP (Association of Tourism Porto and North), Tourism of Porto and North and private entities, in the case of Taxis. This partnership proved to be essential for the development of an integrated service focused on the needs and interests of the citizen/visitor.
International partnerships are also noteworthy. The use of the Digitransit platform is the result of networking with Helsinki, which resulted in a first version of the platform. There is also a high interest from other Portuguese cities and well as European cities in adopting and adapting this platform to other urban environments, and the project is being developed in an open way for Explore.City, a platform that can be made available to other cities to adapt to their needs and reality.
Investment strategy and incentive for employee training:
Having been created based on the platforms of Digitransit, PELIAS and Open street maps, training was required by the Porto Digital team, which developed the app, to use the full potential of the selected platforms. The development of Explore.Porto took into account the different users of the platform. With a view to ensuring the contribution of all partners (page users dedicated to the introduction of new data), training sessions were held in the area of data and insertion into the platform.
Open Source and Technology:
The project to create the ROPI (Official Repository of Points of Interest) and the Explore.Porto application are part of a digital innovation strategy based on integrated development and open source, which has being implemented by the city of Porto. ROPI, the official repository of information on points of interest (POI) and events in the city of Porto, aims to centralise information and make it accessible in an open way through databases that feed other products such as Explore.Porto, maintaining an open data interface for public consultation. The integration of data from various departments and entities (namely from Turismo do Porto e Norte or private taxi companies) through digital processes and the provision of a page where partners can enter/update data, allows centralized access and constantly updated to tourism and mobility information. The creation of an integration, conversion and interoperability API allows data from different sources to be integrated into the Explore.Porto.
For citizens:
The platform offers a remarkable added value to the tourist level, whether the tourist has a pre-defined plan or prefers a more circumstantial discovery of the city. Facilitating convenient, safe and real-time planning.
• Itinerary suggestions: plan a route, get real-time information about public transport
• Alerts on temporary changes to the normal operation of public transport routes
• Identification of points of interest near the current location
• Selection of favourites: save routes or points of interest that we want to have available
• Exploration of points of interest in the city: with access to description, history, address and opening hours and relevant updated information
• Possibility of categorising points of interest by those who introduce them to the platform
• Provide useful and reliable information on mobility and points of interest in the city of Porto;
• Moving from planned information (GTFS) to real-time information (GTFSRT);
Positive impacts generated and/or induced by the project on tourism development:
Porto has been asserting itself as a highly sought after city in terms of tourism and with a strong development in this area and, in this sense, Explore.Porto offers a remarkable added value, whether the tourist has a pre-defined plan or prefers a more circumstantial discovery of the city. Following the trend of tourist growth and the importance of serving the resident citizen, the platform is available in both Portuguese and English.
By bringing together public and private partners, who provide services of public interest, Explore.Porto breaks with the type of services designed in the light of existing structures (which tend to be compartmentalised) to focus them on the user, which has a considerable impact on the adoption of local services.
Contribution and initiatives promoted by the project aimed at environmental sustainability:
The integration of different forms of mobility, smooth mobility, public transport and taxis contributes positively to their valorisation, investing in an innovative way in the promotion of less polluting means of transport and alternatives to the car. The optimisation of routes, proposed by Explore.Porto, favours the reduction of unnecessary environmental emissions. The application's greatest contribution to environmental sustainability is related to the optimisation of routes and the enhancement of less polluting means of transport.
How was the service co-created?
Porto Digital worked with co-creation tools, involving the citizens and technicians of the municipality in the design of the solution that best responded to this challenge.
In order to ensure that the product/service developed responds adequately to the needs and interests of users, Explore.Porto was developed by applying co-creation and service design methodologies. Co-creation empower citizens and promotes a citizen engagement in the process allowing a better response to the challenges, as well as the integration of innovation methodologies, from conception to implementation.
In order to ensure that the product/service developed responds adequately to the needs and interests of users, Explore.Porto was developed by applying co-creation and service design methodologies. Co-creation empower citizens and promotes a citizen engagement in the process allowing a better response to the challenges, as well as the integration of innovation methodologies, from conception to implementation.
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