At Smart City Expo, Uruguay showcased its potential as a destination for investment and innovation

Uruguay participated in the Smart City Expo World Congress 2026 with a proposal that combined technological capabilities, talent, and institutional coordination to attract investment and develop projects with international reach. From November 3 to 5, the Uruguay pavilion in Barcelona brought together national companies and institutions that presented their solutions and explored opportunities to connect with the global smart cities ecosystem.

The event was organized by ITC, Uruguay XXI, Antel, and Uruguay Innova (U+I), with the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) in attendance. This joint presence provided international companies and investors with a vision of the country as a platform for developing, testing, and scaling solutions for other markets.

In this context, the deputy executive director of Uruguay XXI, Martín Mercado; the executive director of Uruguay Innova, Bruno Gili; the president of ANII, Álvaro Brunini; and the general manager of ITC, Alejandro Lemos, participated in a panel discussion on Uruguay as a hub for business and innovation.

Mercado highlighted stability, predictability, and respect for the rules as key attributes for companies considering setting up operations in the country. “Uruguay has been a stable country for many decades,” he stated, linking that continuity to the conditions that enable long-term project planning. He also noted the value of skilled talent and investment promotion tools for developing international operations.

Coordination among institutions, businesses, and academia was another key focus of the discussion. Gili explained that an innovation hub is built on complementary capabilities and seamless connections with the world. “A hub is a network […] that functions effectively among public, private, and academic actors, with strong international integration,” he said.

From this perspective, he highlighted the opportunities Uruguay offers for conducting research, carrying out testing, and linking these processes to the production of goods and services for the region.

Brunini, for his part, noted that stability allows for the sustained implementation of science, technology, and innovation policies, while the ITC’s Director General summarized one of the opportunities the country presented in Barcelona: combining knowledge, infrastructure, and local partners to develop solutions that can be scaled up across Latin America.

Participation in Smart City Expo provided an opportunity to showcase this integrated offering and forge ties with companies interested in investing, innovating, and expanding their operations from Uruguay.