Park presentation

Nonagon

Nonagon is the first Science and Technology Park of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, located in the city of Lagoa, São Miguel Island.

The Park aims to become a cornerstone organization fostering technological innovation as well as the capacitation of human resources in the field of information and communication systems, aligned with the main strategic areas of the Research and Innovation Smart Specialization Strategy for the Azores (RIS3 Azores): Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Agro-industry; Fisheries and the Sea; and Tourism.

It also works as a synergetic catalyst between the main players within the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of the Azores, regarding Technology transfer.

This project resulted from the combined efforts of the Regional Government of the Azores and the Municipality of Lagoa, in order to promote and enhance the interaction between the Government, Industry and University, towards the creation of a new development paradigm.

Why “Nonagon”?

Nonagon was the winner designation, out of 3000, of a competition promoted by the Regional Government of the Azores, to find a suitable denomination for the Science and Technology Park.

The competition represented an opportunity to simultaneously promote the new project and create the awareness for a new work methodology, based upon collaboration through networks, available to all quadrants of society.

The author, António Almeida, explained his choice with the evident parallelism between the nine sides of this polygon and each of the nine islands of the Azores. Also, the word Nonagon embodies a much deeper meaning, of roman origin. Nona, one of the Parcae – female destiny deities, was associated with the ninth month of pregnancy and therefore with new beginnings and opportunities, thus correlating perfectly with the strategic goals of NONAGON.