Three of the country´s research and innovation entities have merged to become a single public body: Andorra Research + Innovation, integrated by the Andorran Studies Institute, Andorra´s Sustainability Observatory and Actual Innovation. The law of creation for the new entity was passed by the General Council of the Valleys of Andorra in May 2021.The researchers have, for example, developed City Scope Andorra, a 3-D augmented-reality platform that visualize s complex urban data on a small-scale model of the country in real-time. The platform simulates the impact of multiple urban interventions — from urban planning proposals to shared autonomous vehicles — and facilitates civic engagement and decision making. The researchers have also tested the Persuasive Electric Vehicle (PEV), an ultra-lightweight, three wheel, shared-use autonomous vehicle designed to operate in bicycle lanes. If deployed at scale, the PEV could help address the severe traffic and parking problems in Andorra, a car dependent country without an airport or train service. In 2014, Andorran government officials met with Larson’s City Science Initiative to discuss collaboration opportunities. Andorra aspired — and still does — of becoming the world’s first “smart country” by making use of big data to help develop and deploy innovation. This sparked a partnership in which Andorra would fund the City Science Initiative to develop projects related to data collection and analysis, urban mobility, urban planning for an innovation district, and sensors deployed in schools for learning. For innovation at the street level, the researchers developed the PEV, an autonomous, on-demand vehicle that looks somewhat like the cargo bikes found in Amsterdam. The vehicle was designed as an alternative to popular driverless cars and taxis.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/this-tiny-nationhas-become-a.
