Slideshow « Creative Regulatory Environments

The Rui Cunha Foundation presents today, Thursday, May 15th at 6:30pm, an Open Lecture titled “Creative Regulatory Environments: Steering the ‘Evolving Sandbox Economy’ from the Greater Bay to the Portuguese-Speaking Geographies”, inserted in the Circle of Ideas series, with the special participation of Prof. Sandro Mendonça, Associate Professor at the Department of Economics of ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute, Invited Professor at ISEG/ULisboa, Professor at City University of Macau, and Visiting Professor at the Università degli Studi dell’Insubria.

This session aims to explore the concept of experimental innovation zones – the so-called ‘sandboxes’ as children’s playgrounds – that allow for future breakthroughs by creating controlled and safe spaces to test, replicate, assess, adopt, implement and roll-out new products, devices, technologies, or systems, within a conditioned and provisional structure.

These experimental environments are an effective means of allowing small-scale, live testing developments of innovative ideas and projects, without causing disruptions in the normal flow of businesses or institutions. These parallel structures have greater freedom by ensuring a safe area where potential damaging issues or results are prevented without compromising or slowing down critical resources, under more dynamic and flexible regulatory frameworks.

The focus of the lecture extends from the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in China – a hub of techno-institutional innovation cities –, to Portuguese-speaking geographiesthat are increasingly engaging with similar sandbox models, particularly in the telecommunications and energy sectors.

The guest speaker has been visiting Macau regularly. The Rui Cunha Foundationhosted on April 2023 a lecture entitled “Changes in Communications: From 5G through Digital Platforms to AI”, and again on May 2024 another open lecture about “The Future(s) of BigTech”, where he discussed the balance of power between the current global giants, which include US companies Apple, Amazon, Facebook (Meta), Google (Alphabet), and Microsoft, and Chinese Alibaba and Tencent.

Sandro Mendonça is a Professor in Portugal, Italy, and Macau, having also taught at doctoral level in Chengdu (UESTC) and Guangzhou (SMU), China. His main focus is on innovation and sectoral dynamics. His experiences include responsibilities as Executive Board Member of the Portuguese Communications Authority (ANACOM), member of the governing body of Ceadi (the intelligence council of the Brazilian telecommunications regulator, Anatel), delegate to the Network of Economic Regulators (OECD), member of the advisory board of the Monitoring Unit of the Portuguese Official National Authority for Cybersecurity(CNCS), science officer of the Ibero-American Program for Science and Technology (CYTED), member of the executive committee of the Portuguese Media Watch (OberCom), and Fellow Economist at the European Commission(DG Grow). He held opinion columns in several newspapers, including Expressoand Publico in Portugal, and magazines such as Revista Macau and Macau Business. He received several acknowledgements in his carrier, including being Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and European Young Leader by Friends of Europe Foundation. He received as well pedagogical recognitions and invested in student supervision, with over 15 PhDs and about 100 Master students having successfully completed their projects. In 2024he coordinated the report “The Futures of Big Tech in Europe” for the European Commission and figured in the top world scientists list of Stanford University. He currently is Advisor to the President of the European Patent Office (EPO), after serving as Stream Leader for Technology Intelligence at the Observatory on Patents and Technology of the EPO.