Legend has it that Romulus and Remus founded Rome on the very spot where, years before, the twin brothers had been abandoned and rescued by Luperca, the she-wolf who sheltered and nursed them. This divine legend forms part of the history of Christianity and, in itself, gives rise to an endless number of interpretations, conclusions, philosophies and reflections concerning the very core of civilisation’s history. I find myself thinking about it time and again whenever I remember one of the clients of whom I am most proud: Infralobo. We too, without realising it, founded our own “Rome” in a place where we had landed completely by chance. That is honestly how I feel. When we first began working with this municipal services company, everything was grey, dark and institutional. It lacked colour. It lacked transparency. It lacked presentation. It lacked simplicity in the way its services and objectives were communicated. And, with the utmost respect, we too had our own Luperca. Ours was called Marcelo Souto. He was the one who performed the miracle of nurturing us. He was the one who heard us “cry” and fed us until the Shepherd arrived and reached out his hand. After that, it became history. Let me explain.

As I have already mentioned, we received a steady stream of challenges from this client. In previous years, we had created the Smart Resort by Infralobo logo and its initial concept. Later came the launch of Smart Bikes by Infralobo. And in 2019, we reached several important milestones.

The first was the launch of the Smart Irrigation System by Infralobo. The video explains, succinctly, what was done and how:

The same approach was taken with the waste collection service, Smart Waste System by Infralobo:

With all these technologies now in operation, the puzzle was beginning to take shape, colour and purpose.

The work we carried out for Infralobo was the result of immense creativity, close teamwork, humility throughout the brainstorming process, experimentation, and trial and error. Then it was simply a matter of repeating it. Trial and error. Trial and error. And during this constant process of trying, failing, rebuilding and trying again, an entirely unexpected idea emerged, one whose true potential neither João Costa nor I recognised. It was Marcelo who connected the dots. It was Marcelo who painted the picture. The vision was his. And once the canvas had been painted, everything else followed in rapid succession. The animation, the script, the voice-over, the timing, the storytelling.

Anyone who watches Smart Future by Infralobo quickly understands how this company operates, what its objectives are, the services it provides, its figures, achievements, challenges and much more. It is a piece of content that still stands today and has since undergone several updates to the narration, the services presented and the information itself. And when a piece of content continues to stand the test of time, then we know our work was done properly. That is a victory. A source of pride. A milestone in the lives of everyone who contributed to it.

B16 helped build the city of the future. The three of us played an important role in shaping that place. With or without human sacrifice, we brought that business vision to life through innovation. And it is worth remembering that, in 2019, the technologies implemented by Infralobo were still taking their very first steps. If this truly is “the world’s first smart resort”, just imagine the influence it has had on all the organisations that have since drawn inspiration from it. We witnessed its birth, its growth, its maturity, and its fearless declaration of purpose to the world. A privilege.

It was the ambitions of the Chairman of the Board at the time, Carlos Manso, that set the tone for the results we achieved. He motivated us. He built things alongside us. He did not simply ask for things – he challenged us to innovate and to grow together with Infralobo. And that is exactly what happened. We produced content for stakeholder presentations, presentations for corporate events, content for social media, content for municipal events and, above all, we innovated in every single one of them. It was a gradual process, one that steadily gathered momentum and remains a great source of pride for us, as I have already mentioned so many times. But I still remember the countless compliments we received throughout the months of that year. In many different places. From many different audiences. And Carlos always insisted that we should take part in the events focused on explaining both the concept and the company. We shone in every one of them and left feeling immensely proud.

I may come across as sentimental in this chapter. Repetitive, even. These are moments when personal and collective growth happens without us even noticing. It leaves an indelible mark. A profound one. I am not religious. I never have been. I do not believe in God. I do not believe in Jesus Christ. Nor in Allah. Nor in the thousands of Indian gods. Nor in Buddha. Nor in Zeus. My way of looking at higher powers is much more grounded. For me, one of the higher beings most present throughout my own personal journey, particularly during my alcoholism, is remarkably easy to identify: they are all those who, like me, fight for sobriety every single day. Those who have spent decades in recovery and possess the integrity, selflessness and unconditional love to be there for the newcomer; for the alcoholic in need; for the fragile, vulnerable and misunderstood soul who simply needs a helping hand. They are all those who, like so many others, fight countless unfair battles every day: the pain of prematurity, chronic or degenerative illnesses, invisible mental health struggles, infertility, physical limitations or the burden of living with chronic pain. They are all those who endure ongoing domestic violence, role reversal as carers, inverted and premature grief, or atypical parenthood. They are all those who care for others: the true doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants; the true teachers, tutors and educators. They are the warriors. The fighters. The soldiers. The firefighters. The survivors. The rescuers. To me, in my own understanding of a higher being, there are countless ordinary people on this Earth who never receive the recognition they deserve. Who are never truly seen for how important they are. And I could name many more. So many more. I do not even need to revisit the memories I carry from Mozambique. Or from Africa as a whole. I do not need to write about the true superheroes you encounter there, every single day, on every street corner. Heroes that the rest of the world chooses not to see because the reality is simply too violent and too deadly for the comfortable human mind of the present day, leaving it hidden away in darkness and obscurity. Higher beings are everywhere. But so too is the unknown. It is within that darkness that people search for answers, for comfort, for stories to lean on. And I cannot answer so many questions. So many. Then there is the one we all know. One of life’s great questions. Who was the Creator? Who could it have been? Who conceived the complexity of the human body? Who imagined every intricate detail of nature? Who engineered the mechanics of the Earth, the galaxies and the universe? And entering the world of science is accepting that, beyond a certain point, there is an inexplicable complexity where only the best-supported hypothesis prevails. Do all scientists, biologists, physicists, doctors, veterinarians, astrophysicists, cosmologists, palaeontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, researchers and philosophers believe in the Big Bang theory? It is because the analytical complexity of the universe is so profoundly beyond the understanding of ordinary mortals, myself included. It is for reasons such as these that we seek something greater. That we seek Faith. It is why we believe in leaders. In remarkable figures. It is why legends are written. Just like that of Luperca. And Romulus and Remus. And the shepherd, the saviour. Comparing Smart Future by Infralobo to the moment of Creation is, of course, completely disproportionate and exaggerated. I am fully aware of that. It is not my intention to equate the two. But, much like the founding of Rome; much like the meaning behind that legend; within the metaphor beneath the she-wolf and the twins; perhaps what we created also held its own significance. And perhaps the comparison is not entirely unreasonable. Before human civilisations, there were no computers and no internet. Time moved differently. Life unfolded in another way. And we, through this modest arrangement of words, felt like genuine thinkers, strategists and architects of this innovative place that felt so profoundly ours. We gave life to a “city” with its own unique characteristics, complexities and extraordinary details. Not with the same History to which all roads lead; but with this story, in this place. We too, nourished by the she-wolf, survived and gave birth to our own place. On our own scale, of course.