Sara Fernandes is an international consultant on Smart Cities, EGOV and Cyber Security, specialized on Cybersecurity Management from Harvard University, and a PhD student at MAPi Program (Minho, Porto and Aveiro Universities joint program). In addition to finishing her PhD dissertation, she is an Invited Lecturer at University of Minho. Recently, she completed a short course on diplomacy from Autonoma University, Lisbon.

From July 2016 to September 2017, Sara acted as BPO Senior Consultant at Widesys, Lda, where she was responsible for designing technological infrastructures, KPIs, SLAs and SLOs definition, support to the business area near potential clients, leadership and management of teams.

Previously, Sara designed, implemented and co-founded the United Nations University – Operating Unit on Policy Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV) in Portugal, where she acted as Special Advisor. At UNU-EGOV, Sara was responsible for institutional development and developed Electronic Governance related projects, successfully stablishing partnerships with Agency for Administrative Modernization (AMA), UNESCO, ITU, and UNDESA; negotiated with the Government of Equatorial Guinea their EGOV National Strategy; and negotiated the PASP project, funded by European Union, aiming at modernizing the African Portuguese Speaking Countries and East Timor. Recently she started negotiations with USA Government and the World Bank for establishing joint projects in developing countries, particularly the development of EGOV national strategies for Mozambique and Bissau Guinea.

She also negotiated and served as manager of the PT-FLAD Chair in Smart Cities & Smart Governance at the University of Minho.

From 2012 to 2014 was PhD fellow at United Nations University – International Institute for Software Technology based in Macao – China, contributing to the Education research program. She also contributed to the EGOV research program as fellow.

Prior joining UNU, she worked as a grant holder at the University of Minho, and Data Manager in the private sector. She was Invited Lecturer at Escola Superior de Estudos Industriais e de Gestão (ESEIG).

She holds a master’s degree in computer science from University of Minho, where she also studied mathematics and computer sciences, and where she is completing here PhD in Computer Science from MAPi Doctoral Program. Her research focuses on cyber security, peer to peer learning and technology enhanced learning, and Electronic Governance, particularly on administrative modernization, open government, and smart cities. In 2015, Sara was invited by the Minister for Administrative Modernization of the XX Portuguese Government as an advisor.