Focus on Portugal

Portugal Digital

Portugal Digital is founded on three pillars: i) training and digital inclusion of people, ii) digital transformation of the industrial sector, and iii) digitalisation of the public administration. The general digital transition strategy for industry called ‘Industry 4.0 Programme’ (i4.0) that was established in 2017 has three main goals: to accelerate the adoption of i4.0 by the Portuguese business fabric, to promote Portuguese technological suppliers as i4.0 players, and to make Portugal an attractive hub for i4.0 investment. The implementation and monitoring of the strategy is overseen by COTEC Portugal, a Portuguese business association for innovation, as well as by its Strategic Committee composed of representatives of both the public sector and the private sectors, who finance the programme.

Transformation

“Initially, the focus was on mobilisation and raising awareness,” Rita explains. “The second phase of the programme, launched in April 2019, has ambitious transformative goals and aims at placing Portugal in the leading group of countries driving the digitalisation of European industry. Currently, there are four Digital Innovation Hubs, two in the North focusing on manufacturing, one in Coimbra targeting the health sector and one in Lisbon specialised in the agricultural sector.” Furthermore, Portugal is also finalising its National Strategy for AI, which has already been presented and discussed with AI companies, the research community, uptakers and public administration. AI is one of the main priorities for future investment. All in all, overall investment in areas connected with digitalisation are expected to surpass 918 million euros.

Software opportunities

Rita continues: "More specifically in terms of software and software innovation, Portugal's national priorities lie in the areas of artificial intelligence, advanced computing, 5G and cyberspace security. The Portuguese Association of Software, Assoft, believes great opportunities exist for Portuguese software companies if they can overcome a number of challenges. Firstly, technological. The growing use of mobile solutions, cloud computing, big data, the internet of things, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and crypto coins – these are some of the key trends that require the redesign and rewriting of applications currently in production. Secondly, human resources. Given the “brain drain” phenomena of ICT graduates in Portuguese universities to foreign markets, resulting in the scarcity of qualified people for the needs of the market which is witnessing a growing penetration of multinational and outsourcing companies.

Emir Sirage adds: “Actually, in Portugal we have three unicorns (companies whose value exceeds 1 billion US dollars) that are Portuguese founded and a good number of other highvalue companies that have good international exposure. Their centres of competence – or the brains of these companies – are still based in Portugal, which pays tribute to the quality of the engineering in the various institutes and institutions we have here.”

Strong innovator

Assoft is working hard to conclude cooperation protocols with government authorities and other foreign associations - namely in Angola, Chile, the UK and the USA - and with several European government organisations and NGOs. “And, of course,” Rita adds, “ANI is supporting technological and business innovation in Portugal and strengthening the competitiveness of the national economy in global markets. We pursue policies and initiatives to promote private investment in R&D, collaboration between R&D entities and enterprises for an effective transfer of knowledge to the market as well as promote the internationalisation of Portuguese innovative companies and R&D institutions through supporting participation in Horizon 2020 (future Horizon Europe), hosting part of Horizon Europe’s NCPs network, as well as other international networks such as Eureka. For the first time, Portugal has joined the group of Europe’s ‘strong innovators’, showing the best performance improvement in relation to the other members states, with an increase of 21.5%. In addition, Portugal, for the second consecutive year, leads the category ‘innovation in small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs)’,” Rita says proudly. ANI has also launched a Call for the classification of entities as Digital Innovation Hubs as part of the Portugal’s Action Plan for Digital Transition. The aim is to create a National Network of Digital Innovation Hubs that allows for the growth and faster digital transition of companies, particularly SMEs, and Public Administration.

Platform for the Eureka Chairmanship

A good platform when taking up the Chairmanship of Eureka in the summer, an event that Miguel Bello is looking forward to. “In our last Eureka presidency, in 2008, we championed the expansion of Eureka Clusters so we were pleased to see South Korea join a year later and more, such as Canada and South Africa, since. We believe that expanding the outreach will bring great benefits, and this will be one of our lines in our forthcoming Chairmanship. We will be taking up this role during COVID-19 and will be leaving, in all probability, post-COVID-19. One of our priorities will be to foster innovation through international collaboration to meet the challenges, where areas like Earth Observation from Space are a technological enabler to tackle climate change, ocean sustainability, health and energy that have been pushed into the background by the pandemic. So our motto is ‘innovation for a greener, digital and healthier planet through a collaborative approach’. During our Chairmanship we will also be overseeing the implementation of the new Eureka governance model related to the revitalisation of the Eureka Clusters. So we have lots to do, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”