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SAS and LPI Join the ICT Academies Promoted by UMIC in Higher Education Institutions

As part of the initiatives taken in the 1st e-Skills European Week, the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) signed on 9 March 2010, in the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, two new protocols to pursue the implementation of the ICT Academies in Higher Education Institutions initiative launched in 2007. These protocols are designed to foster in institutions of higher education opportunities for professional training in areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

1 Million Laptops Provided by the Programs e.escola, e.professor, e.oportunidades, e.escolinha

On the 27th of July 2009, in presence of the Prime Minister, José Sócrates, it was organized a ceremony to commemorate the delivery to students, professors and trainees of 1 million laptops by the programs e.escola, e.professor, e.oportunidades and e.escolinha, just two years after the first two programs were initiated in June 2007 and a year after the launching of the e.escolinha program.

The programs e.escola, e.professor and e.oportunidades were created to facilitate the purchase of laptop computers with mobile broadband connections, respectively to 5th to 12th grade students, teachers of primary and secondary schools, and trainees in the New Opportunities Program with acquisition costs of 150 euros and a monthly subscription of mobile broadband access for 15 euros, with more favorable conditions applying to students who receive social support. The program e.escolinha has the objective of facilitating the purchase of Magalhães Computers by primary school students, the Portuguese Low Cost Computer Designed for Students of the 1st to 4th grades.

e-University: Laptops for higher education students and teaching staff

On 27th May 2009, a ceremony was held at 11 am at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon where Toshiba Portugal, together with the enterprises Prológica, Microsoft and Autodesk, and with Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), launched the Toshiba e-University Programme to facilitate the purchase of laptops by higher education students and teaching staff.

This initiative wraps up the actions planned in 2008 between Toshiba Portugal and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education in the scope of the Toshiba Research and Learning Network.

The computers that are formatted for the Toshiba e-University Programme are equipped with specific software. It will be possible to purchase these computers at a lower cost using the guarantor-less bank credit system, with mutual guarantees, which has been in place in Portugal since 2007. The Santander-Totta bank was the first bank to join the Programme, which is open to participation from other banks.

UMIC Facilitates Use of Internet Spaces by Universities of the Third Age

In the scope of the official commemorations for the National Day of the Universities of the Third Age, RUTIS - Universities of the Third Age Association Network and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) signed a Cooperation protocol on 21st May 2009 at Fundão Universidade Sénior, located next to the Fundão Pavilhão Multiusos. This protocol foresees UMIC’s support for the bodies responsible for Internet Spaces so that Universities of the Third Age may use these spaces to hold Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) classes on a timetable to be arranged in each case, and for spaces with access to computers and the Internet to be included in Universities of the Third Age that meet the conditions set out in the Internet Spaces Network.

Sun Microsystems Joins the ICT Academies Promoted by UMIC in the Higher Education System

Sun Microsystems Portugal and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) signed a Cooperation protocol on 18th May 2009, at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST)’s Taguspark Campus to implement the ICT Academies collaboration scheme launched by the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Government and Sun Microsystems (text in Portuguese) in February 2009.

Meeting with the International Distance Learning Panel

On 15th January 2009, the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) met the international panel mandated by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education with conducting an assessment and coming up with recommendations on distance learning in Portugal, chiefly to reveal the backbone infrastructure aspects available for distance learning in Portugal after actions promoted by and with funding from Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and operated by the FCCN – Foundation for National Scientific Computation, which are currently forerunners in terms of what is happening in European countries:

Toshiba Research and Learning Network

A ceremony was held on 7th October 2008 between 11am and 12pm at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento, Parque das Nações, Lisbon, presided over by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago and attended by the President and CEO of TOSHIBA, Atsutoshi Nishida, where a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Ciência Viva – National Agency for Scientific and Technology Culture, and Toshiba-Portugal regarding an investment by Toshiba in Portugal of roughly 1 million Euros over 3 to 5 years, shared out between the following actions:

Microsoft Research Chair and Microsoft Software for Higher Education Students

A Memorandum of Understanding between Microsoft and the Portuguese State was signed on 3rd October 2008 at a ceremony at the Lisbon Centro de Congressos presided over by the Prime Minister, José Sócrates, and attended by the CEO of the Microsoft Corporation, Steve Ballmer. This includes, among other measures, as regards the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education:

Protocol to facilitate Autodesk software use in Higher Education

A protocol to facilitate Autodesk software access and use in universities and polytechnics was signed yesterday, 13th December 2007, by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC),  the FCCN – Foundation for National Scientific Computation and Autodesk – the global leader in 2D and 3D software for the processing, construction, infrastructure, media and entertainment industry sectors. This protocol was signed under the scope of UMIC’s e-U Virtual Campus project, for which the FCCN is responsible for the operational element, and plans to make various applications available via the Autodesk Campus Licenses programme under very favourable conditions.

Protocol on ICT Academies signed with Microsoft Portugal

A presentation of the Microsoft IT Academy Programme will take place on 30th November 2007 from 2.30pm to 4.45pm at the Hotel da Lapa, Lisbon. The session will conclude with the signature of a collaboration protocol between Microsoft Portugal and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC),  in the scope of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Portuguese Government and Microsoft in 2006. This will target the promotion and creation of ICT Academies, where the emphasis shall be on vocational ICT training, taking on board Microsoft IT Academy initiatives in Portugal.

EU Competitiveness Council Meeting approves e-Skills Conclusions

Conclusions concerning e-skills were approved at the meeting of the Council of the European Union group on 22nd November 2007 in Brussels, following the Commission’s publication E-skills for the 21st Century: Fostering Competitiveness, Growth and Jobs of 7th September 2007, which was prepared by a working party where Portugal was represented by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Online Teaching Methods and the Current Labour Market

The Public Meeting of the Open University’s “Online Teaching Methods and the Current Labour Market” International Advisory Board will be held on 12th November 2007 at 3pm in the Fundação das Comunicações’ Auditorium in Lisbon. The main aim will be to demonstrate the relevance of online teaching methods to gearing up what universities offer to the emerging needs of an increasingly more flexible and complex labour market.

High Level Meeting on Modernising Europe's Universities

The High Level Meeting on Modernising Europe’s Universities will be held on 6th November 2007 at the vice-chancellor’s office of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU.

The meeting continues with the political objectives that have been laid down since the March 2000 Lisbon Council and are based around political commitments made at European level, namely at the Informal Summit of Heads of State and Government at Hampton Court, United Kingdom, in October 2005, where the relevance of further education, research and innovation to the EU’s competitiveness was pointed out.

2007 Lisbon eLearning Conference

The 2007 Lisbon eLearning Conference will be held on 15th-16th October 2007 at the Lisbon Congress Centre.

Debate on Innovation, Learning and Development

A Debate on Innovation, Learning and Development organised by INA – National Administration Institute will be held on 17th September 2007 from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm in the Eunice Muñoz Auditorium, Rua Mestre de Avis, Oeiras. It is aimed at central and local Public Administration heads and middle management, as well as their technological partners and entities from the tertiary sector.

1st semester results from the UMIC-Autodesk Portugal protocol

As reported on 05.01.2007, Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and Autodesk Portugal signed a protocol on supplying free Autodesk Student Version software licenses for use on personal computers belonging to students, teaching and administrative staff and researchers from the universities and polytechnic institutions covered by the e-U Virtual Campus initiative. The protocol also provides for access to a series of extra features when the various higher education institutions’ domains are authorised on the Autodesk University Portal (Student Community & Design Community).

Free Autodesk software for Higher Education students, professors and researchers

Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and Autodesk Portugal signed a protocol on supplying free Autodesk Student Version software licenses for use on personal computers belonging to students, teaching and administrative staff and researchers from the universities and polytechnic institutions covered by the e-U Virtual Campus initiative. This UMIC-sponsored initiative covers almost all higher education institutions in Portugal and involves wireless networks, turning the entire higher education system into a single virtual campus and making a wide range of services, content and applications available.

National Education Debate

Take part in the National Education Debate (text in Portuguese)

The Portuguese Assembly has decided to promote a National Education Debate in conjunction with the Government to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Education System Basic Law (1986-2006). The National Education Board has been tasked with organising this debate. In addition to meetings in different locations around the country, the debate will also be held via an electronic Internet forum at www.debatereducacao.pt (in Portuguese) until 30th November 2006.

All state schools in Portugal with broadband Internet access

All state schools now have broadband Internet access as of the end of January 2006, following a process in the Alentejo in the Oriola 1st cycle middle school in the Portel municipality, which now has a broadband Internet connection.

Purchasing computers made easier for families with students

As foreseen in the Connecting Portugal Programme, which was approved by the Government in July 2005, the State’s Budget for 2006 fixes income tax breaks for computer, software and terminal equipment purchases of up to half the purchase price up to a maximum of 250 Euros.

Purchases carried out from 1st December 2005 for students or families with students in any type of education are eligible.

Valimar Digital Seminar

The Valimar Digital Seminar was held on 6th March 2009 at Viana do Castelo Municipal Library, at which the results of the Digital Regions and Cities project  “Valimar Digital” and the Community Networks project Valimar Net, both co-funded by the POSC – Knowledge Society Operational Programme, were presented.

Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) was represented at the seminar by Professor Graça Simões, who gave a presentation entitled Information Society – Portugal in Change. New Generation Networks.

Call for tender for Preparatory Actions for Urban Networks for Competitiveness and Innovation

The Directorate-General for Spatial Planning and Urban Development has launched a call for tenders (text in Portuguese) closing on 16th November 2007 for Preparatory Action projects for cooperation between cities with a view to setting up Urban Networks for Competitiveness and Innovation, under the POLIS XXI Cities Policy (text in Portuguese).

Call for tenders for eParticipation 2007 projects

The call for tender for eParticipation projects (text in Portuguese) in the scope of the European Commission’s eParticipation 2007 Work Programme has been launched. The budget for the call for tenders is 4.7 million EURO. The call for tenders runs from 13.06.2007 to 13.09.2007 (5 pm Brussels time).

Digital Aveiro Forum

The Digital Aveiro Forum was held on 9th and 10th March 2007 at the Aveiro Exhibition Park - one of the Knowledge Society Operational Programme’s Digital Cities and Regions projects planned for the end of the Digital Aveiro project. The agenda (in Portuguese) included sessions dealing with each of the project’s intervention areas and their assessment. It concluded with a plenary session summing up and looking at future perspectives, which was opened by an intervention by the President of the UMIC (in Portuguese) and closed by the Minister for Science,Technology and Higher Education.

Call for tenders open for eParticipation projects

The European Commission has launched the call for tenders running from 28th July to 4th October 2006 for projects in the scope of the “eParticipation 2006” programme.

CGD Web Portal Fully Accessible and adopts UMIC Accessibility Certification

The Web portal of CGD – Caixa Geral de Depósitos (http://www.cgd.pt) has been completely remodeled and now fully complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG1.0) established by the W3C – World Wide Web Consortium. The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) helped the CGD services to assure compliance with the accessibility guidelines through its team ACCESS, and CGD used the automatic validation tool of evaluation of the satisfaction of accessibility guidelines developed that UMIC – the eXaminator (text in portuguese) – and adopted the Dynamic Accessibility Certification Logo of UMIC (text in Portuguese) that provides an updated diagnostic of the accessibility of the whole portal.

Accessibility Guidelines for Web 2.0 (WCAG 2.0 of the W3C) Content Published in Portuguese

The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) took the initiative to commission a Portuguese translation of the Accessibility Guidelines for Web 2.0 Content (text in Portuguese) and made it available on the Internet (WCAG 2.0 – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines of the W3C – World Wide Web Consortium), which were approved on 11th December 2008 after they had been prepared through an open process with wide-ranging global participation over the course of several years.

Portuguese was the third language the new guidelines were translated into in the world on 25th February 2009, following only English (the original) and Hungarian.

Call for tenders for Ambient Assisted Living for the Elderly Projects

The 2nd call for tenders in the scope of the AAL – Ambient Assisted Living Programme was launched on 11th February 2009, for R&D projects in Information and Communication Technologies Solutions for Advancing Social Interaction for the Elderly, which closed on 5th May 2009.

The Meeting of the Working Party on the Content of the 2nd Call for Tenders for the AAL Programme (text in Portuguese), which was organised on 11th – 12th September 2008 by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), helped define the terms of reference for this call for tenders.

Ministerial e-Inclusion Conference 2008

A Ministerial e-Inclusion Conference was held on 30th November to 2nd December 2008 in Vienna, following on from the Ministerial Meeting on European e-Inclusion Policy held in Lisbon on 2nd – 3rd December 2007 in the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union.

The main themes of the Ministerial Conference were: e-Accessibility in Europe, Ageing Well in the Information Society, e-Literacy, Investment in e-Inclusion and the Future of e-Inclusion Policies.

Council of EU IS Ministers meeting approves e-Inclusion Conclusions

The Council of the European Union met on 29th November 2007 in Brussels and, acting on the Portuguese Presidency of the EU’s proposal, approved conclusions regarding e-inclusion for the elderly (Ageing Well in the Information Society). The Commission presented its European i2010 initiative on e-Inclusion - to be part of the information society to the Council on 8th November 2007. The Portuguese Presidency informed the Council of the e-Inclusion Ministerial Debate being held in Lisbon on 2nd and 3rd December 2007, which is the first opportunity for Ministers to have a preliminary discussion of the Commission’s publication.

Ministerial Meeting on European e-Inclusion Policy

In the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, the e-Inclusion Ministerial Debateis being held on 2nd-3rd December 2007 at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon. It is being jointly organised by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Information Society & Media. The Conference Handbook contains information on speakers and the exhibition of projects, which is running in parallel to the conference, as well as the schedule for the corresponding workshops.

This meeting will be chaired by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago and the Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, and 20 ministers or secretaries of state from the EU’s other Member States will be present.

Iberian-American Days on Support Technologies for Disabled People

The Iberian-American Days on Support Technologies for Disabled People and the Iberoeka Mini-Forum on the same topic will be held on 26th-27th November 2007 at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon. The Instituto Superior Técnico’s Analysis and Signal Processing Centre is organising these events in conjunction with the Innovation Agency and with the support of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and other national and international bodies.

 

Workshop on Technologies, Contents and Services for Social Inclusion

As part of the Lisbon Research and Policy Workshops on Science, Technology and Social Change (text in Portuguese), organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, a Workshop on Technologies, Contents and Services for Social Inclusion: Facing the digital divide and the emergence of ambient assisted living will be held on 29th-30th October 2007 at the Fundação das Comunicações, Lisbon.

This workshop is being prepared in conjunction with the UT Austin – Portugal Programme, which was approved as part of the Partnerships for the Future project.

Accessibility of Government and Central Government Internet sites

A Council of Ministers Resolution (text in Portuguese) was approved on 27th September 2007 laying down guidelines for accessibility of Government and Central Administration services and public bodies’ websites for citizens with special needs. The technical requirements that need to be satisfied are clearly defined and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s guidelines on levels of conformity for the accessibility of Internet content have been adopted.

For merely informative content sites, the target is for “A” conformity within three months, while for sites that incorporate the provision of services to citizens on a transactional basis, the goal is for “AA” conformity as per the aforementioned guidelines within six months.

Portugal in the Ambient Assisted Living Association set up in Brussels

The Ambient Assisted Living Association was set up in Brussels on 19th September 2007 to manage European R&D projects in the area of intelligent ambient assisted living based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which shall be co-funded under the European Union’s Research Framework Programme.

Portugal is represented in the new association by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), which joins as one of the founding members. The association includes founding members from the following countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, Israel; Italy; Portugal and Sweden. Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom and Switzerland plan to join the association at a later date.

New Degree Course in Rehabilitation Engineering and Human Accessibility

The Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) is opening a new Degree Course in Rehabilitation Engineering and Human Accessibility for the 2007/08 academic year. This Bologna-compliant degree course lasts three years and aims to train the first graduates in Europe with this type of basic training for 2010.

Several other Portuguese higher education establishments have introduced these subjects on their curricula, namely on different Biomedical, Biomechanical and Ergonomic Engineering courses, as well as on courses on Informatics and Information and Communication Technologies regarding people-computer interface accessibility.

"e-Inclusion: Presentation of Project Outcomes" Conference

The "e-Inclusion: Presentation of Project Outcomes” Conference (text in Portuguese) will be held at the Escola Superior de Educação de Leiria/Instituto Superior Politécnico de Leiria on 2nd April 2007 between 10 am and 5 pm.

This conference will cover 48 projects involving more than 250 professionals belonging to dozens of institutions: universities, research and development centres, state bodies working on behalf of the disabled, companies, municipal councils, institutions for and of the disabled. As well as presenting the outcomes achieved, it will also be possible to see some of the products and services that have been created in the exhibition space, which shall be open throughout the event.

International Day of Disabled People

The United Nations Organisation (UNO) declared 3rd December 2006 as International Day of Disabled People. The topic chosen for this day is access to the Internet and norms to improve accessibility conditions. The UNO organised two events on 4th December 2006, a conference on eAccessibility and the first meeting of the Global Initiative for Inclusive Technology and released the “Global Audit of Web Accessibility” report the following day. A group of citizens in Portugal is launching the Petition for Portuguese Electronic Accessibility (in Portuguese) to be handed to the Portuguese Parliament in a similar process to that of 1998, which led to Council of Ministers Resolution nº 97/99 (text in Portuguese), of 26th August, which was an initial milestone for the topic of accessibility on Web pages in Portugal.

Internet Spaces Network Meeting

Get to know Portugal’s Internet Spaces – visit, use, learn and interact

The Internet Spaces Network Meeting is being held on 3rd and 4th November 2006 in Pavilion 1 of the Lisbon Trade Fair in Parque das Nações in Lisbon. The Pavilion will open from 11 am to 9 pm on the two days and entrance is free.

Internet Spaces are free public access points where computers and the Internet are regularly available, backed up by their own staff (monitors), to help people use these technologies. Many of these spaces meet accessibility criteria for citizens with special needs.

2006 Engineer Jaime Filipe Prize Competition

The competition for the 2006 version of the Engineer Jaime Filipe Prize runs until 31st July. This initiative aims to reward innovative concepts preventing and promoting autonomy for people in situations of dependency.

As well as aiming to make a contribution to the emergence of innovative concepts promoting autonomy and humanisation of care, this prize in tribute to the founder of the Innovation Centre for the Disabled (CIDEF) also seeks to promote the development of instruments and technologies that optimise and prolong physical, mental and social abilities and guarantee better quality of life. It also aims to stimulate the adoption of reparatory measures for lost abilities, raising awareness of society in general and the industry sector, in particular regarding the emergence of a little-explored niche market, as well as the need to encourage the marketing of innovative lower cost pro-mobility means and to stimulate creativity in the technological and design field in this little-developed domain.

"NET on Wheels" Entre Douro e Vouga

The Entre Douro e Vouga Digital (site in Portuguese) project will present the NET on Wheels initiative at a session chaired by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education in Arouca on the premises of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia Home, accompanied by the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

NET on Wheels is an itinerant scheme dedicated to raising awareness and mobilizing people vis-à-vis Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The object is to fight e-exclusion. Two vehicles equipped with laptops with wireless Internet connections and enabled for citizens with special needs will travel around the five municipalities covered by the project ((Arouca, Oliveira de Azeméis, São João da Madeira, Santa Maria da Feira and Vale de Cambra) to train citizens on how to use the facilities. The two monitor staff accompanying each truck shall help familiarise people with ICTs and the Internet in retirement homes, associations, schools, companies and other locations.

Paediatrics ICT Project

The Paediatrics ICT (site in Portuguese) project, promoted by the Foundation for Disseminating Information Technologies (FDTI), aims to make technology resources available to children hospitalised in paediatric wards, enabling them to relax and be in contact with their families, school and friends via web cams, personal computers and small family blogs.

 

Suggested conclusions from the SIDAR Foundation's IX Days - Universal Access

The suggested conclusions from the IX SIDAR (site in Spanish) Days are intended to help towards digital inclusion and accessibility of digital content and you can subscribe to them at http://www.jornadas.sidar.org/2005/formad.php.en.

 

 

Creative Commons in the Knowledge Society Seminar: the impact of the first four years

The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), the Faculty of Economic and Entrepreneurial Sciences of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (FCEE-Católica) and INTELI – Intelligence in Innovation – are organising a seminar on 15th December 2006 from 9 am to 1 pm at the FCEE-Católica entitled “Creative Commons in the Knowledge Society: The impact of the first four years”. The objective of the agenda (in Portuguese) is to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the Creative Commonslicenses and discuss the new challenges in protecting intellectual property.

Creative Commons arrive in Portugal

The Portuguese version of the Creative Commons Licenses is being launched on 13th November 2006 by UMIC - Knowledge Society Agency, in partnership with the FCEE-UCP - Faculty of Economic and Entrepreneurial Sciences of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and INTELI – Intelligence in Innovation. This launch follows on from a period of prior work with iCommons, the body that manages these licenses internationally, which began slightly over six months ago and involved translating these licenses and adapting them to the Portuguese legal framework, a period of public consultation, and then, finally, these licenses were made available in Portugal at http://www.creativecommons.pt/.

Application of Creative Commons licenses in Portugal

The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), in collaboration with the Faculty of Economic and Entrepreneurial Sciences of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and INTELI – Intelligence and Innovation began the process of applying Creative Commons licenses in Portugal in March 2006. These licenses enable knowledge and authors’ works to be shared openly in an efficient and highly flexible manner. The iCommons summit that took place in Rio de Janeiro between 23rd and 25th June 2006 approved a preliminary translation of the licenses into Portuguese and their respective adaptation to Portuguese legislation. The Portuguese version of the licenses is available for public discussion on the Creative Commons page for Portugal on the Internet. At the end of this discussion, the necessary changes shall be made for the final version to be approved by iCommons, after which the respective version shall be launched in Portugal.

Open Calls for Proposals

Calls for Proposals for projects in the scope of the following Knowledge Society Operational Programme (POSC) measures: Measure 4.1. Improve Broadband Infrastructures, Measure 4.2. Promote Production of Broadband Content and Applications, Measure 4.3. Promote Use of Broadband Internet, Measure 6.2. ICT Integrated Training Actions. Open from 1st February to 28th April 2006.

Benefitting from the Internet Safely: actions promoted by UMIC in Portugal

The UN – United Nations declared 17th May as World Telecommunications and the Information Society Day and decided that this year would be dedicated to the topic of young people surfing the Internet safely.

Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), as the public body with the task of coordinating Information Society policies in Portugal, decided to extend the commemorations for the World Telecommunications and the Information Society Day to all strata of the population and it put on public awareness raising actions on the benefits of and safe use of the Internet for the whole week starting on 17th May and continuing until 22nd May 2009.

UMIC Brings Together Promoters of Broadband Community Networks in a Workshop

In the 12th of February 2009, at the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), takes place the 3rd Workshop on Broadband Community Networks. This workshop brings together the promoters (municipal associations) of 4 Broadband Community Networks that were created by the program prepared by UMIC and partially supported by the Knowledge Society Operational Program (POSC): Minho Valley, Lima Valley, Terra Quente Transmontana, Évora District.

These Broadband Community Networks are optical fiber Next Generation Networks in deprived areas or where there are failures of the telecommunications market, particularly due to low population densities, which can be explored on multi-operation and provide equal access to all operators in tendering for exploitation.

European Safer Internet Day 2009

European Safer Internet Day is being held on 10th February 2009. Just as in previous years, it is expected that 50 countries will hold awareness-raising actions on safe Internet use on this day. This event is organised at European level by Insafe, a cooperation network of projects promoting awareness-raising for safer Internet use by citizens.

The Internet Segura (Safer Net) (site in Portuguese) project is the responsibility of a consortium coordinated by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and which also involves the Directorate-General for Curricular Innovation / CRIE at the Ministry of Education, the Foundation for National Scientific Computation (FCCN) and Microsoft Portugal. This consortium represents Portugal in Insafe and has prepared various national initiatives to promote safe Internet use, with particular focus on elementary and secondary schools and Internet Spaces, which are places providing free public Internet access with their own staff on-hand for support.

Watch the Weekly Progress of the Broadband Community Networks Projects

There are 4 ongoing construction projects of Broadband Community Networks: Évora District, Terra Quente Transmontana, Minho Valley, Lima Valley, a total length exceeding 1,000 km of optical fiber cable and a total investment of 34 million euros. The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) constituted and ensures the operation of the Technical Support Commission (CAT), under which the coordination and monitoring of the ongoing projects is assured. The following figures show the evolution of the indicators of progress of the various projects, updated weekly.

FTTH Forum 2008

The FTTH Forum 2008, dedicated to New Generation Networks and to fibre optics telecommunications access for houses in particular (FTTH – Fiber To The Home), will be held on 5th and 6th November at the Centro Cultural de Belém. This technology enables much higher bandwidths than those possible with ADSL and is able to carry high quality voice, Internet, television communications and interactive applications through the bandwidth that is effectively supplied and the availability of symmetrical bandwidths for downloads and uploads, which are considered indispensible for the Internet of the Future.

APDC Communications Congress

The Communications Congress ’07 (site in Portuguese) is being held on 4th – 6th December 2007 at the Estoril Centro de Congressos. It is being organised by APDC – Portuguese Association for Communications Development. The following thematic plenary sessions have been scheduled: The Changing World of Communications (text in Portuguese), i2010 State of Play and Perspectives (text in Portuguese), The New ICTs Sector in a GLOBAL context - Part 1 (text in Portuguese) ,  The New ICTs Sector in a GLOBAL context - Part 2 (text in Portuguese), The Challenges of the New Regulation (text in Portuguese), Consumer Trends: the profile of the new consumer (text in Portuguese), Sustainable Development and e-Inclusion (text in Portuguese), Regulation (National Oversight) (text in Portuguese), Mobility and Convergence (text in Portuguese), The Investor's View (text in Portuguese), Training and Competitiveness (text in Portuguese), The Major TDT Challenges in Portugal (text in Portuguese).

ENISA / CERT / CC Workshop on Mitigation of Massive Cyberattacks

The ENISA / CERT / CC Workshop on Mitigation of Massive Cyberattacks is being held on 19th September 2007 in Porto. It is being jointly organised by the CERT Coordination Centre – Carnegie Mellon University (CERT/CC), the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), the FCCN - Foundation for National Scientific Computation and by the FEUP – Porto University Engineering Faculty. It is dedicated to the role of CERTs – Computer Security Incidents Response Teams - in mitigating massive cyberattacks and the critical issue of cooperation in this type of situation.

Portugal has had an internationally accredited CERT since September 2002, namely the CERT.PT (site in Portuguese)  of the FCCN – Foundation for National Scientific Computation (site in Portuguese) , which operates under the RCTS – Science, Technology and Society Network. A new internationally accredited CERT came into being on 1st July 2007, namely the University of Porto’s Engineering Faculty CSIRT.FEUP (site in Portuguese).

3rd ENISA Awareness Raising Workshop

The 3rd ENISA Awareness Raising Workshop is being held on 18th September 2007 at the Hotel Tivoli in Lisbon. It is being jointly organised by ENISA - the European Network and Information Security Agency and the FCCN - Foundation for National Scientific Computation. The objective is to share this agency’s experience and that of other relevant bodies so as to raise companies and organisations’ awareness of security issues for information systems and networks (see ENISA workshop agenda).

 

Public presentation of the Internet Segura (Safe Net) Project

The Internet Segura (site in Portuguese) project will be presented to the public on 5th July from 12 pm to 1 pm at the FCCN – Foundation for National Scientific Computation, located on the premises of the National Civil Engineering Laboratory, Av. Do Brasil 101, Lisbon.

The meeting agenda (in Portuguese) includes interventions from representatives of each of the bodies participating in the project and from the corresponding services of the European Commission.

European Safer Internet Day

European Safer Internet Day is on Tuesday, 6th February 2007. Various initiatives will be carried out in Portugal throughout the week:

- A space for the SafeNet project will be opened on Monday, 5th February on the http://moodle.crie.min-edu.pt/ (site in Portuguese) website where best practices by schools under the SafeNet 1 project (2004/2006) will be posted, as will the best work from the 2006 national SafeNet competition.

Advanced Broadband Services

The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) organised a workshopon 14th July 2006 on the following topic: Developing Broadband Services – from the Installation of Infrastructures to Effective Use of Advanced Services The work was organised around two types of cases: local and regional networks, and national research and education networks.

IT Security: Government - Microsoft Memorandum of Understanding

The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the FCCN - Foundation for National Scientific Computation (site in Portuguese) will sign a cooperation agreement with Microsoft on Wednesday (21st July) on I.T: security which puts into practice the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Government and the American I.T. company in February.

Promoting Cybersecurity

The United Nations set 17th May as World Information Society Day and decided that the 2006 day would be dedicated to Promoting Cybersecurity. The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the FCCN - Foundation for National Scientific Computation (site in Portuguese) answered the United Nations’ call by organising the Promoting Cybersecurity meeting on 17th May 2006 from 3 pm to 5 pm at the FCCN, on the LNEC – National Civil Engineering Laboratory campus. The opening session will be chaired by the Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education.

Promoting the Initiative IBERCIVIS – Your Computer Doing Science

In the 23rd February 2010, at the auditorium of the High School D. Dinis in Lisbon, there will be a meeting to promote the initiative IBERCIVIS – Your Computer Doing Science which was launched in Portugal on the 30th July 2009 (see Initiative IBERCIVIS: Citizens can donate their computer time to science). This Volunteer Computing initiative for scientific purposes conducted in cooperation with Spain welcomes the participation of citizens in a scientific research directly and in real time, offereing the processing time of their computers, in particular when they are not being used, to perform scientific computing.

FCCN Presents Recent Developments of the RCTS

The Foundation for National Scientific Computing (FCCN) presents July 28, 2009 the latest developments of the National Research and Education Network, the Science Technology and Society Network (RCTS), which were developed with funding and guidance of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and also supported by funds from the Knowledge Society Operational Program (POSC). The presentation, in the facilities of FCCN located at the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC), Avenida do Brasil, Lisbon, is attended by the Minister of Science Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago.

Access to Part of b-on Made Available to the University of Cape Verde

Cooperation Protocol with three Portuguese institutions ensuring the University of Cape Verde access to 2,069 scientific periodicals and more than 1 million bibliographical records of the Academic Online Library (b-on) of Portugal.

Under the scope of the official visit of the Prime Minister of Portugal to Cape Verde, a Cooperation Protocol was signed on 13 March 2009 between Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) of the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal, FCCN – Foundation for National Scientific Computation, ANACOM – ICP - National Communications Authority, and the University of Cape Verde, regarding the Knowledge Library Online (b-on).

6th Meeting of the Policy Board of the European Grid Initiative

The 6th Meeting of the Policy Board of the European Grid Initiative (EGI) took place on 1 March 2009, taking advantage of the holding of the 4th EGEE User Forum / OGF 25 event from  2 to 6 March 2009, in Catania, Sicily, Italy, which involved 630 participants.

Portugal participated in the EGEE – Enabling Grids for E-sciencE in Europe Project through LIP - the Experimental Particle Physics and Instrumentation Laboratory (Lisbon and Coimbra), of the Universities of Porto and Minho, the Centre for Plasma Physics at IST (Instituto Superior Técnico), and IEETA – the Institute of Electronics and Telematics Engineering (IEETA) and the University of Aveiro.

5th Meeting of the Policy Board of the European Grid Initiative

The 5th Meeting of the Policy Board of the European Grid Initiative (EGI) was held on 20 January 2009 in Prague, the Czech Republic.

The President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC)  and Professor Gaspar Barreira, Director of LIP – the Experimental Particle Physics and Instrumentation Laboratory, joined the EGI Policy Board as representatives of the National Grid Initiative.

Meeting of the Joint Portugal – Spain Committee for e-Science Cooperation

The Joint Portugal-Spain Committee for e-Science Cooperation met at the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain, in Madrid on 12 January 2009 to analyse the progress made and plans to be developed under the scope of the cooperation between the two countries with regard to IBERGRID, voluntary computing, supercomputing, the education and research networks of the two countries and open access scientific repositories.

The Portuguese delegation was headed by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, and included the Portuguese coordinator for these cooperation Programmemes, Gaspar Barreira, the President of the Foundation for National Scientific Computation (FCCN – Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional), Pedro Veiga, as well as individuals involved in the more technical aspects, such as Grid Computing (Jorge Gomes, of the Associated Laboratory LIP – The Experimental Particle Physics and Instrumentation Laboratory), Supercomputing (Manuel Fiolhais, from the Centre for Computational Physics of the University of Coimbra), of Voluntary Computing (Rui Brito, from CNC – Centre for Neurosciences and Cellular Biology of Coimbra) and open access scientific repositories (Diogo Gomes, from FCCN).

3rd Conference on Free Access to Knowledge

The 3rd Conference on Free Access to Knowledge took place on 15-16 December 2008 at the University of Minho-Braga (Amphitheatre B1, Pedagogic Complex II - Gualtar Campus), organised by the Documentation Services of the University of Minho with the support of FCCN – Foundation for National Scientific Computation, under the scope of the project to set up the Open Access Scientific Repository of Portugal (RCAAP – Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal) with financing by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), and with the co-financing of the Operational Programme for the Knowledge Society (POSC).

Open Workshop on e-Infrastructures

To mark the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, the e-IRG – e- Infrastructures Reflection Group’s Open Workshop on e-Infrastructures is being held on 11th – 12th October 2007 in Lisbon at the National Civil Engineering Laboratory in Lisbon. It aims to stimulate interaction between the scientific community and bodies responsible for coordination, monitoring and consultancy for scientific policies related to e-Infrastructures. The workshop agenda includes interventions on the National GRID Initiative, the IBERGRID – Iberian Computation Grid Network cooperation plan, different aspects of Computation Grid network data bases and security, and the perspectives of the European Grid Initiative, the next generation of the European GEANT3 and FEDERICA networks , the EGEE – Enabling Grids for E-sciencE project and PACE – Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe, which are initiatives that Portugal is participating in via various institutions.

1st IBERGRID Conference

The 1st IBERGRID – Iberian Computation Grid Network Conference is being held on 14th to 16th May 2007 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. IBERGRID was set up by a joint decision of the Spanish and Portuguese governments at the November 2006 Portugal-Spain summit. The objective was to integrate the two countries’ Computation Grid infrastructures in a coherent network, thus increasing their computational capacity and stepping up cooperation between their institutions and researchers and reinforcing scientific cooperation between the two countries’ institutions and researchers working in this field. As one of the instruments for intensifying collaboration between Spanish and Portuguese institutions and researchers, the decision was taken to hold a series of annual conferences, alternating from one country to the other, starting with this conference.

R&D Projects in the GRID Computation field

In the scope of the National GRID Initiative , the FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology published the public notice of a call for proposals for R&D projects in GRID Computation and for projects demonstrating and applying GRID Computation, which is open from 1st November to 15th December.

 

INGRID'06 Day – 11th Nov 2006

Marking the opening of the 1st call for proposals under the National GRID Initiative, INGRID’06 Day is being held on 11th November 2006, from 8 am to 6.15 pm in the Auditorium of the Science Faculty on the Universidade do Minho’s Gualtar campus in Braga. For information and enrolments, go to the corresponding web pages. An FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology initiative, with the collaboration of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the support of the Universidade do Minho, the day intends to contribute towards facilitating applications for the aforementioned call by the scientific and technological community and to transmit information about opportunities in this area in the European Union’s VII Research Framework Programme.

National GRID Initiative Launch

The launch of the National GRID Initiative will be held in the Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon on 29th April 2006 from 3 pm to 6.30 pm at a session chaired by the Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education. The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) is in charge of preparing and organising this session and initiative.

The meeting agenda comprises interventions from guest speakers, namely from the European Commission, CERN and GRID research and computation centres in Spain, who will be speaking on the European Commission’s vision of GRID computation and various European projects in this field, including infrastructure, scientific and medical imaging projects. Speakers will present the state of play of GRID Computation in Portugal and international cooperation projects in this field, which will be discussed by a panel of researchers and companies from different parts of Portugal.

New b-on Knowledge Library Online Portal: More User-Friendly and with New Functions

The national academic and scientific community has today been given access to the new b-on – Knowledge Library Online portal, which is more user-friendly and streamlined.

The portal, which has been available since April 2004, now has new and more significant functions. It is now easier for users to find what they are looking for in the vast array of content available on b-on: more than 16000 full text titles and reference databases.

In addition to the basic functions that were available on the old version, such as the federated search engine, the single search interface and the personal area, different interface types are now available for different user types (beginner, standard or expert) with streamlined search, navigation and results interfaces, an A-Z list by institution type (standard or hospital) and crucial background help.

UMIC Supports the University of Algarve New Medical School Program

On September 4, 2009, in a ceremony held at the University of Algarve chaired by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the Rector of the University of Algarve signed a protocol regarding the support by UMIC of 1.6 million euros for an initial investment in the medical school whose classes will started on September 8, 2009. The funding now provided is intended for educational content, infrastructure, hardware, and related human resources.

Highly Qualified Foreigners Attracted to Portugal more than Doubles from 2007 to 2008

In 2008 Portugal attracted 533 highly qualified foreigners from outside the European space, more than double that in 2007, according to data from the Contact Group set up in 2006 to promote and simplify the process of hiring teaching members of staff, researchers and other highly qualified foreigners, under the scope of the Simplex Programme.

The highly qualified foreigners who came to Portugal in 2008 originate from more than 40 countries, and in particular Brazil (223 visas granted), China (39 visas granted), India (34 visas granted) and the United States of America (24 visas granted).

Session to Open the European Year of Creativity and Innovation

The official opening of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation in Portugal took place on 2 February 2009 in the Belem Cultural Centre.

The morning session consisted of the guest speaker, Don Tapscoot, giving a talk entitled “Governance 2.0: How the Internet Generation is changing governance, innovation and democracy”.

Public Tender to Receive Initial Proposals for Setting Up and Operationalising R&D Consortia

Programme to Promote State Laboratories

The FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP and the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) have invited the National Scientific and Technological Community to submit proposals for the setting up of Research and Development Consortia (R&D), as envisaged in the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 124/2006 (in Portuguese), of 3 October, concerning reform of the State’s Laboratories.. The setting up of these R&D Consortia involves competitive support for the development of R&D centres and networks, their involvement in national and international partnerships and dynamising their R&D capacities.

EUROHORCS High Level Workshop

A High Level Workshop took place on 17-18 January in Lisbon, co-organised by the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal and by EUROHORCS – European Heads of Research Councils, bringing together members of the Governments of various European countries responsible for Science, the Director-General for Research of the European Commission and members of EUROHORCS, with the aim of discussing research policies and the need to create new instruments within the scope of the financing and executive organisations which form part of EUROHORCS.

Publication of the Results of the International Assessment of Research Units

The Results of the International Assessment of Research Units, covered by the Multiannual Financing Programme for the FCT R&D Units, were published by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, on 17 December 2008.

The process of international assessment of the country’s research units, started in 1996 and repeated in 1999-2000 and 2002-2004, follows international standards and analyses, in particular, the best work selected by each R&D unit, in order to allow analysis by independent specialists of the scientific activity carried out, as opposed to using merely quantitative indicators.

R&D Activities in Portugal show the Largest Growth in any EU country

Portugal was the EU country which showed the largest growth in R&D expenditure in terms of GDP from 2005 to 2007, reaching 1.18% of GDP when in 2005 it was just 0.81% of GDP. Portugal is now close to Spain (1.22%) and Ireland (1.31%), and has passed Hungary (0.97%), Italy (1.09%) and Estonia (1.14%).

R&D expenditure in terms of GDP more than doubled from to 2005 to 2007, reaching 0.61% of GDP when in 2005 it was just 0.29% of GDP. For the first time R&D expenditure in companies was greater than the amount recorded for other institutions. The number of companies with R&D activities showed unparalleled growth, rising from around 930 in 2005 to more than 1,500 in 2007.

There was a large increase in the number of researchers in the active population, rising from 3.8‰ in 2005 to 5.0‰ in 2007, with the number of researchers equivalent to full time posts doubling in the last ten years (from around 14 thousand in 1997 to around 28 thousand in 2007). The number of researchers in the active population is now close to the EU27 average (5.6‰), although this is still lower that the OCDE average (7.0‰).

The number of researchers in companies more than doubled from 2005 to 2007, moving from around 4 thousand to 8.6 thousand, and was accompanied by an increase in the number of researchers which companies stated as having PhDs  (around 360 in 2007).

Technological Portugal 2008

Pavilions 2 and 3 of FIL - the Industrial Fair of Lisbon, situated in Parque das Nações, in Lisbon, played host to the Fair “Technological Portugal 2008”, which was held on 18 to 23 November 2008 and which was open to the public as a whole, with the aim of providing contact with what is best in Portugal in the areas of technology, innovation and knowledge, including sectors such as Energy, Telecommunications, Education, Health, Tourism, Mobility, Security, and the Automobile Industry.

The central theme of the module on Science (content in portuguese) was the new frontiers in science and scientists in Portugal. This module included around 400 photographs of new scientists hired by scientific institutions in the last two years under the scope of the Programmeme to stimulate scientific employment, financed by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, which aims to ensure the contracting of at least more than 1,000 graduates by the end of the parliamentary term. There were also various installations in two distinct spaces, where events were organised under the scope of the Partnerships for the Future activity integrated within the Commitment to Science for the Future of Portugal initiative.

Portuguese Young People amongst the Most Interested in Science News

September 2008 saw the publication of a report from Eurobarometer entitled Young People and Science, This was based on a survey carried out in September 2008 by the Gallup Organisation, Hungry, at the request of the Directorate-General for Research in the European Commission.

Workshop on Why do We Need Graduate Schools to Enlighten Science and Promote Research Universities?

As part of the Lisbon Research and Policy Workshops on Science, Technology and Social Change, organised under the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, a Workshop on Why do we need graduate schools to enlighten science and promote research universities? ... A dialogue across different experiences in Europe will be held on 10th and 11th December 2007 at the Fundação das Comunicações, Lisbon.

One of the aspects under the microscope is the increasing trend for post-graduate schools to be seen as an efficient way of locating basic research organisation and as drivers for innovation, and their increased links with industry and the entrepreneurial world.

Council of EU Science Ministers meeting approves Various Strategic Initiatives

The Council of the European Union’s Competitiveness Council dedicated to Research met on 23rd November 2007 in Brussels. Under the chairmanship of the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, Science ministers from EU countries and the European Commission, represented by the Commissioner for Research, Janez Potocnik, and the Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, approved the agreement prepared by the Portuguese Presidency to launch the first public-private strategic partnerships between Member States, the European Commission and Industry, to a value of 9.3 billion euros, 50% to 60% funded by companies involved in the projects, depending on the initiative in question, and the remainder coming from the Commission and the EU’s Member States over the next six years. This represents an unprecedented investment in public-private partnerships in R&D aid policy in the EU and in addition to concentrating funds in specific initiatives, aims to encourage companies to invest more in R&D.

Workshop on New Financing Schemes for Fostering Science and Technological Innovation

As part of the Lisbon Research and Policy Workshops on Science, Technology and Social Change, organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, a Workshop on What is the potential of new financing schemes for fostering science and technological innovation? … Balancing private and public, national and global incentives, will be held on 12th – 13th November 2007 at the Fundação das Comunicações, Lisbon.

One of the aspects under examination will be the emergence of new funding possibilities, such as the channelling of global liquidity pool resources into science and technology, as well as using new risk management tools.

"The Future of Scientific Research in Portugal" Seminar

The “Future of Scientific Research in Portugal” Seminar is being held on 19th October 2007 at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP)’s Foz Campus in Porto in honour of Professor Francisco Carvalho Guerra.

Workshop on Real Science, Reliable Knowledge, "Open Science" and Property Knowledge

As part of the Lisbon Research and Policy Workshops on Science, Technology and Social Change (in Portuguese), organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, a Workshop on Real Science, Reliable Knowledge and the Complementarity of “Open Science” and Property Knowledge will be held on 1st-2nd October 2007 at the Fundação das Comunicações, Lisbon.

 

Workshop Revisiting Polytechnic and Vocational Education

As part of the Lisbon Research and Policy Workshops on Science, Technology and Social Change (in Portuguese), organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, a Workshop on Revisiting Polytechnic and Vocational Education – Looking at the complex nature of diversified higher education systems and their relation with new challenges in science and technology will be held on 15th-16th October 2007 at the Fundação das Comunicações, Lisbon.

 

High Level Conference "The Future of Science and Technology in Europe"

In the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, a High Level Conference on The Future of Science and Technology in Europe will be held from 8th to 10th October 2007 at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon. Many of Europe’s most important institutional and scientific community stakeholders will be present at this conference.

The High Level Conference "The Future of Science and Technology in Europe" agenda, with links to the presentations available online, includes plenary sessions where discussions will be held on such topics as: challenges for Science and Technology (S&T) in Europe, promoting and attracting human resources to research, public and private investment in research, a vision of the future of S&T in Europe.

World Conference on Research Integrity

As part of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, the 1st World Conference on Research Integrity – Promoting Responsible Research, organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) and the US Office of Research Integrity (ORI) of the Department of Health and Human Services, USA, will be held from 16th to 19th September2007 in Lisbon. In Portugal, the organisation enjoys the support of the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES), the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG). For more information, go to the ESF web pages on this conference.

Informal Meeting of Ministers for Competitiveness Research

In the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Competitiveness  – Research will be held on 19th-20th July 2007, as part of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU’s desire to contribute towards implementing the Lisbon Strategy in the Science and Technology field by providing a new impetus and to strengthen this topic’s standing on the European agenda seven years after the March 2000 European Council in Lisbon defined the strategic objective for the next decade of “making the EU the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economic area in the world, while providing sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and more social cohesion.”

Workshop on High Tech Entrepreneurship: Implications for Science Policy and Education

As part of the Lisbon Research and Policy Workshops on Science, Technology and Social Change (in Portuguese), organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, a Workshop on High Tech Entrepreneurship: Implications for Science Policy and Education will be held on 5th – 6th July 2007 at the Fundação das Comunicações, Lisbon.

This workshop is being jointly organised with the CMU – Portugal Program’s PhD in Technological Change and Entrepreneurship Program.

European Research Council Meeting

In the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, the European Research Council will meet on 3rd-4th July 2007 in Lisbon. This will be the Presidency’s first official event in the Science and Technology field and as such is being given special attention through the organisation of a public event with the Scientific Council of the ERC and the Portuguese scientific community (text in Portuguese), on 3rd July, from 9-11 am at the Centro Cultural de Belém. The event will be attended by Portugal’s Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, and the Commissioner for Research, Janez Potocnik.

Open Source Software Agreement

At the Forum for the Information Society held in Aveiro on 10th March 2006, Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the company Sun Microsystems signed a cooperation agreement on making open source software freely available to researchers, professors, students and civil servants conducting any activities related to teaching, research and the development of information technologies.

New R&D Institute Created in Madeira within the Carnegie Mellon – Portugal Program

University of Madeira, Madeira Technopole and Carnegie Mellon University sign, on July 23, 2009, a protocol for creating a new private R&D  institute in the area of Information and Communication Technologies, Madeira – Interactive Technologies Institute (Madeira - ITI), in a ceremony in the presence of the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, and the Secretary of State of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor. The creation of this institute had been proposed at the 5th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Carnegie Mellon – Portugal Program, chaired by Luis Magalhães, President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA, on the 27th and 28th of May 2009.

Launch of the Harvard Medical School – Portugal Program

The cooperation Program between the Portuguese State and the University of Harvard, through the Harvard Medical School (HMS), Harvard Medical School – Portugal Program, was launched on 21 May 2009, at the Pavilion of Knowledge (Pavilhão do Conhecimento), in Lisbon, at a ceremony which was attended by the Portuguese Prime Minister, José Sócrates, and the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, the Minister of Health, Ana Jorge, the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, and the Assistant Secretary of State for Health, Francisco Ramos.

Also attending the ceremony were the Presidents of FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP and of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), the Vice-Chancellors of the Universities with medical degrees, the Deans of all the Faculties of Medicine in Portugal and the Directors of Associated Laboratories in this area, who jointly signed the terms of their corresponding participation in the Program, along with the Deans of the Harvard Medical School (HMS), David Golan and Rick Mills, and the Co-Directors of the Program at Harvard, Tom Kirchhausen and Anthony Komaroff.

6th Meeting of the Board of Directors of the MIT – Portugal Program

The Board of Directors of the MIT – Portugal Program met on 27 April 2009, at MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, for the 6th time since this Programme was started around two and a half years ago, on 11 October 2006, under the scope of the Partnerships for the Future actions integrated within the Commitment to Science for the Future of Portugal (text in Portuguese) initiative.

The Board of Directors of the MIT – Portugal Program is headed by the President of  FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, João Sentieiro, and also includes the Chancellor of  MIT, Phillip Clay, the Deanof MIT’s School of Engineering, Subra Suresh, the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, and the directors of the Program at MIT and in Portugal, Daniel Roos and Paulo Ferrão, respectively.

Portugal and Harvard Medical School Announce Joint Program

Senior figures from the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal and the Harvard Medical School (HMS), met in Boston, USA, on 27 April 2007 to announce their intention of starting a long term collaboration which will lead to a significant development and expansion of clinical research and its transfer to Schools and Faculties of Medicine and the main Portuguese laboratories, and the creation and dissemination of medical content.

The meeting took place in Harvard Medical School. Representing the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education was the Minister himself, José Mariano Gago, the Secretary of State, Manuel Heitor, the President of FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, João Sentieiro, and the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, accompanied by the Portuguese Consul in Boston, Manuela Barrios, and representing Harvard Medical School the Provost, Steven E. Hyman, the Dean for Graduate Education, David Golan, the Chief Editor of Harvard Health Publications, Anthony Komaroff, and the appointed Director at Harvard for the future Harvard Medical School-Portugal Programme, Tomas Kirchhausen.

10th Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Fraunhofer-Portugal Program

The Steering Committee of the Fraunhofer-Portugal Program met on 19 March 2009 for the 10th time since the Program was set up little more than a year ago on 18 April 2007, under the scope of the Partnerships for the Future activity as part of the Commitment to Science for the Future of Portugal (text in Portuguese) initiative.

The meeting, which took place in Porto, started with information regarding the visit of the President of the Portuguese Republic, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, to Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, in Munich, which took place on 5 March 2009, on the occasion of his official visit to Germany, where he was accompanied by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, and by the President of FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology and also the President of the Steering Committee of the Fraunhofer – Portugal Program, João Sentieiro, and which included a presentation from AICOS - Fraunhofer Portugal Research Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions which started its activities in May 2008 alongside the University of Porto, under the direction of Doctor Dirk Elias, who was hired following an international job application process held in Portugal and Germany.

Series of Seminars on Research into Public ICT Policies (7th session)

The 7th seminar in  the series on research into public ICT policies, held  under the scope of the  CMU – Portugal Programme and financed by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, took place on 17 March 2009 at the Instituto Superior Técnico.

The seminar, held within the context of the Partnerships for the Future, activity, had as its theme “How Do Mobile-Voice Operators Compete? IVQR Estimates” with the speaker Ricardo Cabral from the University of Madeira. This was co-organised by the Institute for Robotic Systems - Lisbon and by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

9th Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Fraunhofer-Portugal Program

The Steering Committee of the Fraunhofer-Portugal Programmeme met on 13 February 2009 for the 9th time since the Programmeme was set up little more than a year ago on 18 April 2007, under the scope of the Partnerships for the Future activity as part of the Commitment to Science for the Future of Portugal (text in Portuguese) initiative.

The meeting took place in Cologne, Germany with the aim of analysing progress made within the Programmeme and making decisions regarding its future evolution, and also preparing for the visit of the President of the Portuguese Republic to the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, in Munich, scheduled for the 5 March 2009, as part of his official visit to Germany.

Taking part in the Steering Committee meeting of the Fraunhofer – Portugal Programmeme was its President and the President of FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, João Sentieiro, the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, Doctor Georg Rosenfeld from the President’s office of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (FhG) and Professor José Luis Encarnação, also from FhG.

5th Meeting of the Governing Committee of the MIT – Portugal Program

The Governing Committee of the MIT - Portugal Programme met on 21 November 2008, at FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, for the 5th time since this Programme was started around two years previously, on 11 October 2006, under the scope of the Partnerships for the Future activities integrated within the Commitment to Science for the Future of Portugal (text in Portuguese) initiative.

The main aims of the meeting were to consider and approve the report on the Programme’s activities, with the 1st part of the meeting including the participation of the executive directors of the various areas of the Programme, to receive information from the President of the External Review Committee of the MIT - Portugal Programme, Professor Henk Sol, regarding the process of assessing the candidatures for the projects presented during the public tender opened under the scope of the Programme. It also included discussion and approval of the main strategic and budgetary guidelines, discussion and approval of the Budget Plan for 2009, and analysis of operational matters and procedures.

4th Meeting of the Governing Committee of the CMU – Portugal Program

The CMU – Portugal Programme Governing Committee met for the 4th time on 6 and 7 November 2008, at FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, to learn about the report from the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), consider the report from the Programme Directors and approve resolutions regarding the functioning of the Programme.

This Governing Committee is chaired by the President of FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, João Sentieiro, and also includes the Provost of CMU, Jared Cohon, the Dean of the School of Engineering of CMU, Pradeep Koshla, the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, Alfredo Baptista from Portugal Telecom and the Programme directors at CMU and in Portugal.

2nd Meeting of the External Review Committee of the CMU – Portugal Program

The External Review Committee of the CMU-Portugal Program met for the second time on 3 to 6 November 2008 in Lisbon.

This Committee undertook an intense Program of meetings to establish direct contact with the Program Directors, and with professors from Portuguese Universities involved as well as those from CMU, students in the PhD Programmes and the Professional Masters, managers from companies associated with the Program, senior figures from Portuguese universities involved in the Programme and also those from CMU, and with the Board of Directors of the Program.

Ministerial Conference on the Internet of the Future

A Ministerial Conference on the Internet of the Future was held in Nice, France, on 6 October 2008 promoted by the French Presidency of the European Union. At the same time and in the same place, the conference entitled Internet of Things – Internet of the Future took place on 6 and 7 October.

3rd Meeting of the Governing Committee of the UT Austin – Portugal Programme

The main management body of the UT Austin – Portugal Programme, the Governing Committee, met for the 3rd time on 3 October 2008, a little more than a year and a half since the Launch of the UT Austin – Portugal Programme, on 2 March 2007. The meeting was concerned with analysing the progress verified in each area (Digital Content, Advanced Computing, Mathematics, and the stimulation of commercialisation activities related to science and technology by UTEN – the University Technology Enterprise Network), the strategic plan for each of these areas and the general guidelines for the awarding of budgets, research project bidding processes, new advanced training Programmemes for the PhD and Executive Masters Programmes, the affiliation of companies to the Programme, and improvement in the dissemination and communication of the Programme and its activities.

Series of Seminars on Research into Public ICT Policies (6th session)

The 6th seminar in the series on research into public ICT policies, held under the scope of the CMU - Portugal Programme and financed by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, took place on 7 October 2008, at 18:00, at the Instituto Superior Técnico.

The seminar took place as part of the Partnerships for the Future project with the theme “Technology adoption with forward-looking agents” and with the speaker Filomena Garcia from ISEG – Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão. This was co-organised by the Institute for Robotic Systems - Lisbon and by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Harvard Medical School presents Assessment of Collaboration Opportunities with Portugal

The University of Harvard’s Harvard Medical School (USA) presented the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES) with its report assessing the potential for collaboration with Portuguese university and research institutions, entitled Research and Education Collaboration: Assessment. This document is being made publicly available today and the MCTES will accept any contributions from interested Portuguese institutions, namely scientific and technological institutions, university institutions, National Health System companies and institutions until the end of January 2008, which it will forward to the Harvard Medical School for assessment.

1st meeting of the CMU-Portugal Programme’s External Review Committee

The CMU-Portugal Programme’s External Review Committee is meeting for the first time today and tomorrow, 13th and 14th December 2007, in Lisbon.

This Committee, coordinated by Professor Sir John O'Reilly from the University of Cranfield, United Kingdom, also includes the following internationally-renowned researchers: Joel Moses (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA), Tariq Durrani (University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom), Luigia Aiello (University of Rome, Italy), David Audretsch (University of Indiana and Max Plank Institute, USA).

9 committees and councils of various EU programmes meeting in Braga

On 19th November 2007, the day before the High Level Conference on Nanotechnologies, 9 committees and councils of various EU programmes are meeting in Braga. These include the half-yearly Forum of National ICT Directors-General of the European Union and 3 meetings of European Technology Platform committees and councils, namely:

3rd MIT – Portugal Program Governing Committee Meeting

The MIT – Portugal Program Governing Committee will meet for the 3rd time on 10th October 2007, one day before the first anniversary of this program’s launch, to evaluate the report on the first year of activities and to discuss plans for the coming year’s activities.

This Governing Committee is chaired by the President of the FCT- Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, João Sentieiro, and also includes the MIT Chancellor, Phil Clay, the former MIT Engineering School Dean, Tom Magnanti, the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, and the respective directors of the program at MIT and in Portugal, Dan Roos and Paulo Ferrão.

Conferences and Bilateral Meetings with Russian and Ukrainian Research Centres

A series of conferences and bilateral meetings will take place at the ISQ – Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade from 1st to 4th October 2007 on the activities of Russia’s International Science and Technology Center (ISTC)and Ukraine’s Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU).The agenda for this event, which is entitled Approaching the CIS scientific community: ISTC and STCU meet the Portuguese business, technological and scientific players, takes in interventions on opportunities for cooperation in various areas, which include, among others: material science, nanotechnology, biochips, photonics, welding and vibrations.

CMU – Portugal Program Governing Committee Meeting

The CMU - Portugal Programme Governing Committee, chaired by the President of the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, João Sentieiro, will meet on 20th July 2007. The meeting will also be attended by the Chairman of the CMU, Jared Cohon, the Chairman of the CMU Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Pradeep Kosla, the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, the Director of the Programme at the CMU, José Manuel Fonseca de Moura, and the Programme Director in Portugal, Victor Barros.

Search on for a Director and Qualified Staff for the Fraunhofer Centre/Institute in Portugal

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the Fraunhofer Company (FhG) signed a scientific and technological cooperation agreement on 18.04.2007 in Portugal. This agreement includes the establishment of a Fraunhofer Centre/Institute in Portugal in the Technologies Applications, Content and Services for Ambient Assisted Living field, which is scheduled for the end of 2007. The Centre/Institute will pay special attention to developing technology, content and services for less qualified citizens, the elderly and citizens with special needs who normally do not follow the development of new technologies and the demands of the emerging Information and Knowledge Society. In the area of applied research for industrial and governmental clients, the Centre/Institute will develop concepts and information and communication technologies for Ambient Assisted Living.

In this context, shows of interest from qualified individuals interested in technical and administrative management positions at the Fraunhofer Centre/Institute in Portugal will be warmly received. The positions include that of the Centre/Institute scientific director, which is a post that will also include lecturing duties in information and communication technologies at a Portuguese university. It is hoped that the Fraunhofer Centre/Institute director will be involved in both research and lecturing as part of their university activities.

Harvard – Portugal Program Launch

An agreement was signed with the Harvard Medical School on 16 April 2007 at a session starting at midday in the Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon. The principal objective of this agreement is to stimulate internationalisation and cooperation among medical faculties and the main national biomedical science laboratories and research centres.

The agreement is specifically geared towards production and dissemination of medical content, namely for medical students, teaching staff and researchers, but also for doctors and healthcare professionals and for the general public, the objective being to promote the dissemination of this content in Portuguese.

Fraunhofer – Portugal Programme Launch

At a ceremony at the Porto Customs House lasting from 11.45 am until 1 pm on 18th April 2007, a long-term collaboration agreement was signed between the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and FhG – Fraunhofer Gesellschaft - the company that manages 56 applied research laboratories in Germany and is the largest applied research organisation in Europe. This long-term cooperation agreement focuses on emerging technologies, exploring mutual interest in science and technology for social well-being, economic growth and quality of life. The focal areas for this collaboration were identified based on a preliminary opportunity analysis that was conducted in 2006. They include ICTs, biotechnology, nanotechnology, advanced production engineering and logistics.

The core objective of the agreement is to establish a framework for ongoing and systematic cooperation between Fraunhofer Institutes and R&D institutions in Portugal, and to set up a Fraunhofer Institute in Portugal in the short-term, dedicated to applied research in Technology, Applications and Services for Ambient Assisted Living. This will be the first Fraunhofer Institute to be set up outside Germany.

Launching of the UT Austin – Portugal Program

On 2nd March 2007, the agreements from the UT Austin - Portugal Program were signed at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa’s Faculty of Sciences and Technology in Almada. This comes under the Government’s current work to strengthen scientific and technological cooperation with institutions of recognised international merit in a way that enables innovative projects that effectively help boost scientific and advanced training capability in Portugal.

The UT Austin - Portugal Program encompasses the joint implementation of an International Collaboratory for Emerging Technologies, CoLab, which includes the establishment of a network to stimulate marketing activities for Science and Technology (University Technology Enterprise Network, UTEN).

Launching of CMU – Portugal Program

On 27th October 2006, the CMU – Portugal Program agreements were signed in Aveiro. This comes under the Government’s current work to strengthen scientific and technological cooperation with institutions of recognised international merit in a way that enables innovative projects that effectively help boost scientific and advanced training capability in Portugal.

Forum for the Information Society - Future Internet

On May 10, 2010, at the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre, Rua da Junqueira 30, Lisbon, between 9:00 and 17:45, the Forum for the Information Society – Internet of the Future will take place (see Forum Program (in Portuguese)). The Forum is open to all interested parties.

The main objective of this Forum, organized by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) with the support of Profs. Joao de Barros (Carnegie Mellon – Portugal Program, IT and FEUP) and Rui Aguiar (IT, U. Aveiro), is to get together expertise in strategic areas for the development of Future Internet, a subject on which there has been since 2006 a special national support, in particular within the international partnership programs of Portugal with some of the world leading institutions but also within other programs, to discuss the opportunities opening up in Future Internet technologies, applications and services.

Innovation Forum on Future Internet Technologies and Services (NET-FIT)

The Carnegie Mellon – Portugal Program hosts on February 23, 2010, at Forum Telecom, Picoas, Lisbon, the Innovation Forum on Future Internet Technologies and Services (NET-FIT). The goal of this event is to prepare the launching of a Thematic Network on these topics in order to gather the expertise of Portuguese research centers, private companies and government agencies with the objective of placing Portugal at the forefront of innovation in key technologies and services for the Future Internet.

Innovation Forum on Future Internet Technologies and Services (NET-STIM)

The Carnegie Mellon – Portugal Program hosts on February 24, 2010, at Pavilhão do Conhecimento Ciência Viva, Parque das Nações, Lisbon, the Innovation Forum on Services and Technologies for Interactive Media (NET-STIM). The goal of this event is to prepare the launching of a Thematic Network on these topics in order to gather the expertise of Portuguese research centers, private companies and government agencies with the objective of creating in Portugal innovation cluster in advanced services and technologies for interactive media.

Innovation Network on Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection (NET-SCIP)

The Carnegie Mellon – Portugal Program hosts on February 22, 2010, at the University of Coimbra Auditorium, Coimbra, the Innovation Network on Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection (NET-SCIP). The goal of this event is to prepare the launching of a Thematic Network, joining together the expertise of Portuguese research centers, private companies and government agencies for developing in Portugal comparative advantages technologies and services for network security and critical infrastructures protection.

Science 2009 - Meeting with Science in Portugal: Topics of Future Internet Highlighted

The 3rd Meeting with Science in Portugal, organized by the Council of Associate Laboratories in collaboration with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education will take place 29-30 July 2009 in the Gulbenkian Foundation headquarters building in Lisbon. The opening session will count with the participation of the Prime Minister and of the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education.

INL Opens Its Doors: Portugal and Spain Want To Be among the Leading Nations in Nanotechnology

Less than four years after Portugal and Spain have signed an agreement to create this R&D laboratory, in November 2005, the building of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory was officially inaugurated on July 17, 2009. This laboratory will be the 1st in the world with an international legal status with States as members which is specially dedicated to nanotechnology, thus offering the best conditions for the most talented researchers from around the world to develop top research in nanotechnology. It is also the 1st international laboratory in the Iberian Peninsula in any area of research, leading to Portugal and Spain to enter the restricted group of countries that have such research international organizations in their territory.

Portuguese Experts in Conference on Sensor Networks Organized by OECD

On 8-9 of June 2009, in Lisbon, an OECD Experts Conference was organized, with the support of Portugal, on Using Sensor-Based Networks to Address Global Issues: Policy Opportunities and Challenges. The conference was chaired by Luis Magalhães, President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and Vice Chair of the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP), the OECD committee involved in organizing the conference. This conference includes sessions on the following themes:

• Health and elderly care
• Protection of the environment
• Transportation
• Policy discussion: Public policies in innovation, research, privacy, security and interoperability.

INL and MIT Launch Joint Program for the Recruitment of Senior Researchers

The International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), located in Braga, and MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology signed an agreement on 30 May 2009 for a joint Program for the recruitment of Senior Researchers and for collaboration concerning particularly promising research leading to scientific contributions of major international relevance for nanoscience and nanotechnology.

This cooperation agreement is the result of detailed preparation work of more than one year which has involved three bilateral meetings (1st INL-MIT Meeting, 2nd INL-MIT Meeting, 3rd INL-MIT Meeting) and numerous other contacts which have involved contacts from MIT and INL and which were mediated by the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education. The agreement foresees the joint hiring of 10 Senior Researchers for the INL who will have periods of working at MIT and at the INL on joint projects and jointly selected themes and which will have major relevance for nanomedicine and nanoscientific applications monitoring the environment, energy systems and control of food quality. The agreement was signed by the Director-General of the INL, José Rivas, and by the Dean of the School of Engineering at MIT, Subra Suresh.

Portugal Takes Part in the OECD High Level Conference: ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change

The High-level OECD Conference: ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change washeld on 27th -28th May 2009 in Helsingør, Denmark. It wasjointly organised by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the OECD in the scope of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) of which the President of UMIC, Luis Magalhães, is one of the Vice Presidents (see Meeting of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (57th meeting) and President of UMIC elected Vice President of the OECD's ICCP Committee).

Portugal took part at the Conference after a suggestion tabled by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) to the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) Secretariat, namely through Paulo Ferrão, Director of the MIT – Portugal Program, who presented an intervention on ICT innovations for sustainable urban infrastructures at the “Clean Technologies for Greener Urban Growth” session.

“Microsoft” Invited Chair

On 25 May 2009 a public meeting took place at the Pavilion of Knowledge (Pavilhão do Conhecimento), Parque das Nações. Lisbon, held in the presence of the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago and the Director-General of Microsoft Portugal, Nuno Duarte, where the “Microsoft” Invited Chair project was presented in the area of information and communication systems applied to the health sector, thus setting forth one of the items envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding between Microsoft and the Portuguese State on October 2008 (see  Microsoft Research Chair and Microsoft Software for Higher Education Students).

Visit of the Director of “Components and Systems” for DGINFSO to Research Units

On 14-15 May 2009, Thierry van der Pyl, Director of Components and Systems of the Directorate-General of the Information Society and Media (DGINFSO) of the European Commission visited Portugal at the invitation of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC). The Directorate-General of Components and Systems of DGINFSO is responsible for part of the support R&D activities in nanotechnology under the scope of the 7th Framework Programmeme for Research and Technological Development of the European Union.

Thierry van der Pyl was accompanied on his visit by Professor Luis Melo, Coordinator of the Portuguese Network for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology within FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP. During his two-day stay he visited 7 research units carrying out work in nanosciences and nanotechnologies, located in Taipas, Guimarães, Porto, Aveiro and Lisbon, that is, 4 units and two Associated Laboratories for Nanotechnology and 3 units which form part of Associated Laboratories in other areas (Materials Science and Engineering, Biotechnology and Health Sciences) which carry out significant work in nanotechnology.

EIT Call for Tenders for Knowledge and Innovation Communities

The 1st EIT- European Institute of Innovation and Technology Call for Tenders for Knowledge and Innovation Communities is open until 5 pm on 27th August 2009.

This call is intended to select the first two or three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC) and encompasses the following three areas:

 

• mitigating and adapting to climate change
• sustainable energy
• information and communication society of the future.

“Alcatel-Lucent” Invited Chair

The announcement (in Portuguese) of the opening of a public tender to enter into a contracted Programmeme with one or several scientific institutions working together with institutions of higher education has been made. This envisages the co-financing of the Alcatel-Lucent Invited Chair by Alcatel-Lucent Portugal and by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, within the scope of the Invited Chairs Programme of this body which was launched at the Science 2008: More Scientists for Portugal (text in Portuguese), session held at the University of Aveiro on 10 May 2008.

“Atsutoshi Nishida” Invited Chair

The official announcement (in Portuguese) of the opening of a public tender to enter into a contracted Programme with one or several scientific institutions working together with institutions of higher education has been made. This envisages the co-financing of the Atsutoshi Nishida Invited Chair by Toshiba Portugal and by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, within the scope of the Invited Chairs Programme (in Portuguese) of this body which was launched at the Science 2008: More Scientists for Portugal (text in Portuguese) session held at the University of Aveiro on 10 May 2008.

5th Meeting of the INL Board

The Board of the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, meeting in Lisbon on 1 March 2009, approved the adjudication proposals presented by the Director-General for the construction work related to fittings, networks, special infrastructures and external finishings and their respective fiscalisation, and also approved the proposal of the Director-General regarding adjustments to the duration and cost of the construction work for the building’s infrastructure, underground networks, roof and façades, and also approved the proposal to open tenders for scientific equipment. It also analysed and debated the report of the 2nd Meeting of the International Scientific Council of INL held on 23 January 2008, in Braga, considered the 2008 activity report, the 2009 activity plan and the proposed budget for 2009, and took note on and discussed the progress report presented by the Director-General.

Sun Microsystems Portugal Research Network and the Sun Academic Initiative

The aim of the Sun Microsystems Portugal Research Network is to foster research experiments into new digital systems for Portuguese universities in the Sun Labs (California, USA) and for researchers from Sun Labs and North American universities in research centres in Portugal. A protocol to this effect was signed on 10 February 2009, at the Caparica Campus of the New University of Lisbon, by the President of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), João Sentieiro, by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luís Magalhães, and the Director-General of Sun Microsystems Portugal, Jorge Salamanca, in a ceremony attended by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago.

3rd INL – MIT Meeting

On 26 January 2009, a meeting took place in Lisbon between senior figures from the INL – Iberian International Nanotechnology Laboratory and MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with the aim of drawing up an INL-MIT Collaboration Programmeme, with long term strategic objectives and joint activities in the short term, thus continuing the contacts started at the 1st INL-MIT Meeting which was held on 31 October at MIT, in Cambridge, USA , and continued in the 2nd INL-MIT Meeting which was held on 22 November, in the Forum Ciência Viva 2008, in Lisbon.

2nd Meeting of the INL International Scientific Council

The International Scientific Council of the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory met in Braga on 23 January 2009 to consider its activities regarding the establishment of this new international laboratory.

The meeting was attended by the President of the INL Board and President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, the Director-General, José Rivas and the Deputy Director-General, Paulo Freitas.

The members of the INL International Scientific Council are:

4th Meeting of the INL Board

The Board of the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, meeting in Madrid on 7 January 2009, approved the adjudication decisions regarding the contracts for the proposed project operators by the Director-General, delegations of power to the Director-General and provisional regulations for contracting, as well as considering the report of the Director-General on the activities carried out, and analysed the first draft of the staff regulations.

The INL is currently under construction in Braga, and is a joint initiative between Portugal and Spain. It is the first international scientific organisation in the Iberian Peninsula and also the first, and until now the only, scientific organisation within the area of nanotechnology with an international legal status.

Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education Visits INL Construction Works

The Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education visited the construction work for the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory on 19 December 2008, which was started in July of this year in Braga, on a plot of land of approximately 47 500 m2, given for this purpose by the Braga Municipal Council.

The INL is the first, and until now the only, research organisation within the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology with a legal status which is completely international.

The INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory was set up through the joint initiative of Spain and Portugal at the 21st Luso-Spanish Summit, held in November 2005, in Evora. With its headquarters in Braga, the Laboratory will develop scientific policy and recruit internationally renowned researchers and be open in the future to the participation of more countries from Europe and other continents. It is envisaged that there will be around 200 researchers and will involve a total of 400 people, including the technicians, PhD and Post-Doc researchers.

ZON Prize for Multimedia Creativity

The Prize to Stimulate Research into Digital Applications and Content (text in Portuguese), co-financed by ZON and by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, IP and by CoLab – International Collaboration for Emerging Technologies set up within the scope of the UTexas Austin – Portugal Program which is taking place as part of the Partnerships for the Future initiative, was awarded on 15 December 2008 in Estoril. This prize seeks to promote innovation and award excellence, stimulate and deepen research in the area of digital applications and content.

2nd INL-MIT Meeting

On 22 November, a meeting was held at the premises of the Forum Ciência Viva 2008 (text in Portuguese) in Lisbon between senior figures from the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, and MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with the aim of establishing an agreement concerning the preparatory work necessary for an INL-MIT Collaboration Programme, with long term strategic objectives and joint activities in the short term, thus continuing the contacts started at the 1st INL-MIT Meeting which was held on 31 October at MIT, in Cambridge, USA .

INL was represented at the meeting by the President of its Board, Luis Magalhães, its Director-General, José Rivas, and the Deputy Director-General, Pedro Freitas, and MIT was represented by the Dean of the School of Engineering, Subra Suresh,  and the Director of the MIT-Portugal Programme at MIT, Daniel Roos.

16th European Public Health Conference Starts in Lisbon

The annual meeting of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA), on the topic Health and Innovation in the European Space, took place in the Centre for Congresses in Junqueira (the former FIL), Lisbon, from 6 to 8 November 2008, and was organised by the Portuguese Association for the Promotion of Public Health (Associação Portuguesa para a Promoção da Saúde Pública - APPSP), a founder member of the organisation. Around 1,200 individuals participated in the conference, coming from numerous countries.

After the opening ceremony chaired by the Minister of Health, the 1st Plenary Session had as its theme “Innovation, Knowledge and Citizens – Science promoting health and preventing disease, and the citizen” and was opened by an invited paper given by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on the Transfer of Scientific Knowledge to health professionals and citizens.

1st INL-MIT Meeting

Senior figures from the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory and MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, met at MIT, in Cambridge, USA on 31 October 2008 with the aim of exploring possibilities of collaboration between the two institutions.

INL was represented at the meeting by the President of its Board, Luis Magalhães, its Director-General, José Rivas, and the Deputy Director-General, Pedro Freitas, and MIT was represented by the Dean of the School of Engineering, Subra Suresh, the Director of the Microsystems Technology Lab (MTL), Anantha Chandrakasan, the Director of the Materials Processing Center (MPC), Carl Thompson, the Director of the Center for Material Science and Engineering (CMSE), Michael Rubner, the Director of the International Innovation Initiative (I3), Charles Cooney, the Associate Dean of Engineering for Research, Karen Gleason, and the Director of the MIT-Portugal Programme at MIT, Daniel Roos.

Meeting of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory's International Academic Board

The International Academic Board of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) is meeting at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education on 3rd December 2007 to assess the work setting up this new international laboratory. The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, will take part in the opening of this Board meeting.

The INL’s International Academic Board includes:

High Level Conference on Nanotechnologies

The High Level Conference on Nanotechnologies is being held on 20th –21st November 2007 in Braga. It is being jointly organised by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, the Setting-up Committee of the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) and the European Commission’s Directorates-General for Research, Technology and Development and the Information Society and Media.

This conference, conducted in the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, will be attended by the Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, Spain’s Minister for Education and Science, Mercedes Cabrera Calvo-Sotelo, the Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, and the Commisioner for Research, Janez Potocnik.

"On RFID – The next step to THE INTERNET OF THINGS" Conference and Exhibition

The On RFID – The next step to THE INTERNET OF THINGS Conference is being held on 15th –16th November 2007 in Lisbon under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU and with the support of the European Commission. It is being jointly organised by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), IAPMEI – SME and Innovation Support Institute and the Portuguese company Link Consulting. It is also being publicly sponsored by the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, IP, ANACOM – National Communications Authority, IST - Instituto Superior Técnico, and Universidade do Minho, in addition to several companies.

The conference’s Organising Committee comprises:

"RFID: Towards the internet of things" Conference, Berlin

The “RFID: Towards the internet of things” Conference is being held on 25th-26th June 2007 in Berlin under the German Presidency of the EU, organised in conjunction by the German Federal Ministry of the Economy and Technology, the Federal Ministry of Education and the European Commission. 

The background paper for the conference is the European Policy Outlook RFID publication and the event will be attended by the Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of the Economy and Technology, Peter Hintze, the Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of the Economy and Technology, Bernd Pfaffenbach, the Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Johann Hahlen, the Director-General for Key Technologies – Research and Innovation at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Wolf-Dieter Lukas, all from Germany, and the Head of Cabinet for the Information Society and Media at the European Commission, Rudolf Strohmeier.

Information and Communication Technology Policy Support Programme (2007-2013)

The Information and Communication Technology Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) aims to speed up sustainable development in a competitive, innovative and inclusive information society. It is one of the three specific programmes belonging to the EU's Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme.

The first call for ICT PSP proposals will run from 25th May to 23rd October 2007.

The budget for the ICT PSP 2007 Working Programme will be 65.5 M€ and will focus on the following themes:

National ICT Directors Forum and High Level Event on ICT R&D and Globalisation, Berlin

A meeting of the National ICT Directors Forum will be held on 23rd April 2007 in Berlin under the German Presidency of the EU where EU Member States and EU Framework Research Programme associate countries will be represented by the Directorates-General responsible for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) research.

Portugal will be represented by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) at the National ICT Directors Forum.

Calls Open for the EU's 7th Research Framework Programme

Calls for proposals have been launched for several of the Information and Communication Technologies topic objectives. More information can be found at CORDIS FP7.

Challenge 1: Pervasive and Trusted Network and Service Infrastructures

The network of the future, Service and software architectures, infrastructures and engineering, ICT in support of the networked enterprise, Secure, dependable and trusted infrastructures, Networked media;

International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory

The 23rd November 2006 meeting of the Council of Ministers approved the creation of the Setting-up Committee for the Iberian International Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) as a private non-profit making public utility association Its respective statutes were also approved. From the Portuguese side, the associates are the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, via the Foundation for Science and Technology, IP and the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), and on the Spanish side, the Ministry of Education and Science, represented by its Secretary General’s Office for Scientific and Technological Policies.

The Setting-up Committee’s objective is to carry out all additional action required for setting up the INL. It is its responsibility to launch international calls for tender for the design and/or construction of the premises, hiring of scientific and administrative staff, as well as preparing and carrying out the scientific activity programme until the INL starts operating.

Portugal is One of the Leaders in eBusiness, eCommerce, eGovernment for Enterprises

According to the 2008 report of the European Commission on the i2010 initiative for the Information Society, recently published, Portugal has one of the best positions in the European Union (EU) on eBusiness and eCommerce, integrating the group of 5 EU countries that, taking into account all the 10 indicators considered for these areas, are in the best positions. Besides Portugal, this group includes Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands and Austria. 

In 6 of the 7 indicators considered for eBusiness the values for Portugal are higher than the EU average, and in 3 of the indicators they even reach the 2nd or 3rd best position across the EU: 

Digital Economy Seminar for SMEs – 1st European SME Week 09

The Digital Economy Seminar for SMEs was held on 8th May 2009 at the Customs House in Porto. It was part of the 1st European SME Week 09 and was organised by the DGAE – Directorate-General for Economic Activities in collaboration with IAPMEI – Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Innovation Support Institute, IP, of the Ministry for the Economy and Innovation.

The Digital Economy Seminar for SMEs programme (in Portuguese) involved an opening intervention by the Director General for Economic Activities, Mário Lobo, followed by an intervention by the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, entitled The Information Society in Portugal (text in Portuguese), a presentation the Digital SMEs and SIED – System of Incentives for the Digital Economy actions by the DGAE’s Director of Service for Entrepreneurial Innovation and Competitiveness, José António Feu, a presentation of best practices for SIED projects by 5 enterprises, and a presentation of the actions supporting the Digital Economy at QREN.

2nd UTEN Network Seminar on Internationalisation and Technology Transfer

The 2nd Seminar on Internationalisation and Technology Transfer, organised by UTEN – University Technology Enterprise Network was held on 30th March 2009 at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon. It involved a dialogue with MIT experts on technology transfer and marketing, including discussions of Portuguese case studies.

The UTEN network was set up in the scope of the UT Austin – Portugal Program of the Partnerships for the Future action, which is part of the Commitment to Science for the Future of Portugal (text in Portuguese), which also includes the MIT – Portugal Program, the CMU – Portugal Program and the Fraunhofer – Portugal Program, all of which were invited to contribute to this seminar.

Portugal Adopts the Highest Level of Fiscal Incentives in Europe for R&D Companies

Reductions in Company Tax (IRC) up to 82.5% of expenses on R&D.

Companies active in Portugal may make deductions in their annual taxation amount by at least 1/3 of the revenue expended on Research and Development (R&D), thus benefitting from the most favourable table of fiscal benefits within the European space.

UMIC and ACEP Meet with Brazilian FAA and USP Delegation

The ACEP – Association for eCommerce in Portugal and the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) met a Brazilian delegation from the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP), which operates as a university based in São Paulo, and the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) following the interest shown by these Brazilian bodies in cooperating with regard to how civil society and the State have participated in eCommerce, eInvoicing and e-Business in general.

5th eCommerce week

The 5th eCommerce Week, organised by ACEP – Association for eCommerce in Portugal (site in Portuguese) in partnership with Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), was held from 16th to 25th October 2008. It included various initiatives, of which the following are of note:

• 18th and 20th October: Free distribution of the Practical Guide Buying on the Internet with the Jornal de Notícias, Diário de Notícias and Público newspapers (310,000 copies).
• 20th October, 10.00-12.00: TSF Forum dedicated to eCommerce, featuring the President of ACEP – Association for eCommerce in Portugal and the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) live in the studio.
• 22nd and 23rd October, 10.00-10.30: Digital Business Conference Lisbon'08. This conference kicked off with a session chaired by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, with the guest speaker Chris Anderson, author of the book The Long Tail and Editor-in-Chief of the magazine Wired. The conference topics were: e-business adoption and trends throughout the world and in Portugal; benefits, opportunities and risks of e-business; e-business legal and fiscal framework; electronic business processes including contracting and eInvoicing, mobile commerce; digital marketing; national and international case studies, online banking; systems and processes in the value chain in e-commerce and best practices, certification systems and market regulation.

Portugal National Day at the Microsoft Executive Briefing Centre in Brussels

Portugal National Day is being held at the Microsoft Executive Briefing Centre in Brussels on 28th November 2007, which includes a session with a panel dedicated to the topic “2007-2013: Employability and Innovation”.

3rd Innovation Days

Adl – the Innovation Agency – is organising the 3rd Innovation Days, with the support of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the Knowledge Society Operational Programme, to be held from 7th to 10th November 2007 in Pavilion 3 and the Multiusos Pavilion at FIL - Parque das Nações. The objectives of these days are to share R&D results, support economic appreciation of the results and to encourage partnerships and synergy finding between entrepreneurs, researchers and investors.

TSF Forum on eCommerce

The 5th November TSF Forum from 10.30 am to 12.00 pm on 5th November 2007 will be dedicated to eCommerce. The President of ACEP – ACEP – Association for e-Commerce in Portugal and the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

eCommerce Week Opening Session

The eCommerce Week Opening Session will take place on 6th November 2007 from 10.00 am to 10.30 am in the Fundação das Comunicações’ Auditorium in Lisbon. It is being organised by ACEP – Association for eCommerce in Portugal and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

eBusiness: Opportunities, Risks and Benefits for Portuguese Companies

The "eBusiness: Opportunities, Risks and Benefits for Portuguese Companies" Seminar (in Portuguese) will be held on 6th November 2007 from 10.30 am to 1 pm in the Fundação das Comunicações’ Auditorium in Lisbon.

2nd Public Administration Open Source Meeting

The 2nd Public Administration Freeware Meeting will be held on 7th-8th November 2007 at the LNEC – National Civil Engineering Laboratory in Lisbon. It is being promoted by the Office of the National Coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and the Technological Plan, Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), AMA – Agency for Administrative Modernisation, IP, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture and the ODF Alliance.

The agenda (in Portuguese) for the 1st day has sessions on: opening session with interventions from the Secretary of State for Justice, the National Coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and the Technological Plan, the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), the Director-General for Innovation and Curricular Development and the President of LNEC, Free Software in Primary, Secondary and Higher Education, Free Software in the Modernisation of the Public Administration, e-Accessibility and e-Inclusion, Open Norms – the Market’s View.

Internet Banking: Online Financial Services – Trends and Challenges

The "Internet Banking: Online Financial Services - Trends and Challenges" Workshop (in Portuguese), organised by ACEP – Association for eCommerce in Portugal, will take place on 7th November 2007 from 9 am to 12 pm in the Fundação das Comunicações’ Polyvalente meeting room in Lisbon.

eInvoicing: Organisations' Efficiency and Competitiveness in a Global and Digital World

The "eInvoicing: Organisations' Efficiency and Competitiveness in a Global and Digital World” Conference will be held on 8th November 2007 from 9.30 am to 6 pm at the Hotel Tivoli in Lisbon, with the institutional support of ACEP – Association for eCommerce in Portugal and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Mobile-Commerce as a Catalyst for eCommerce

The “Mobile-Commerce as a Catalyst for eCommerce” Workshop will be held on 9th November 2007 from 9.30 am to 1 pm in the Fundação das Comunicações’ Polyvalente meeting room in Lisbon.

"Using ICT for SME Competitiveness" Conference

The Using ICT for SME Competitiveness conference will be held on 13th November from 9 am to 6 pm in the AIP/FIL Auditorium in Parque das Nações, Lisbon.

Iberian-American Seminar on Self-Regulation in eCommerce

The Iberian-American Seminar on Self-Regulation in eCommerce (in Portuguese) will take place on 14th November 2007 from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Instituto Politécnico de Beja.

New Business Opportunities: Buying and Selling in Electronic Markets for Companies

The New Business Opportunities: Buying and Selling in Electronic Markets for Companies workshop will take place on 15th November 2007 from 9 am to 1 pm in the Fundação das Comunicações’ Polyvalente meeting room in Lisbon.

eCommerce in Portugal Accessibility - Main conclusions from the Integra21 project

The “eCommerce in Portugal Accessibility - Main conclusions from the Itegra21 project” workshop will take place on 16th November 2007 from 9 am to 1 pm in the Fundação das Comunicações’ Polyvalente meeting room in Lisbon.

This workshop is being organised by ACEP and the Vector21 company.

4th eCommerce week

The 4th eCommerce week, organised by ACEP – Association for eCommerce in Portugal in partnership with Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), will be held from 6th to 16th November 2007. The objective is to debate such topics as: eBusiness, Internet banking, eInvoicing, e-retail, mobile-commerce, Internet accessibility, among many others.

The following planned public initiatives are of note:

Launch of the 2nd Wave of Living Labs

The launch of the 2nd Wave of the European Network of Living Labs is taking place in Brussels on 17th October 2007 under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU at the event: “Co-creative Research, Development and Innovation to Connect the Lisbon Strategy to People: Launch of the 2nd wave of the European Network of Living Labs”.

Novabase-Diário Económico Conference on ICTs Creating Value for Business

A conference organised by Novabase and Diário Económico on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Creating Value for Business is being held at the Pestana Place Hotel on 29th May 2007. The conference, entitled Building Business Value With Technology: does IT really matter? will include a speech by Nicholas Carr, a former Harvard Business School Press executive and the author of the book Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corrosion of Competitive Advantage, which was published in 2004 by the Harvard Business School Press and which gained international attention by drawing peoples’ attention to computers becoming commodities, . The following speakers will also address the conference: Tor-Jakob Ramsoy, Partner, McKinsey & Co.; Rogério Carapuça, President of Novabase; Carlos Zorrinho, Coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and the Technological Plan, Luis Magalhães (text in Portuguese), President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), and Maria Manuel Leitão Marques, Secretary of State for Administrative Modernisation.

Public Administration Open Source Meeting

The Public Administration Freeware Meeting is being held on 29th November 2006 in Torre do Tombo in Lisbon. The objective behind the agenda (in Portuguese) is to flag specific cases of free software use and to identify constraints on and the potential for its use by public services. Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) is one of the organising bodies, together with the Office of the Coordinator of the Technological Plan, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice.

 

Seminar on Adoption of eInvoicing in Public Administration

Adoption of eInvoicing in the Public Administration stimulates companies to provide services and adopt eInvoicing solutions

The "Adoption of eInvoicing by the Public Administration" Seminar (in Portuguese) is being held on Monday, 6th November 2006 from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm in the Fórum Picoas Auditorium, Av. Fontes Pereira de Melo nº 38C, Lisbon. The Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education will attend the 4 pm closing session. The seminar is being organised by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

eCommerce week

ACEP – Association for eCommerce in Portugal and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) are working in partnership to promote the third version of eCommerce Week, an initiative which, from the 4th to the 14th May, aims to kick-start the debate from the North of the country to the South on this subject area. 

Europaper Digital 2006

Digital Europaper 2006 is part of the Europaper trade fair being held by FIL - Feira Internacional de Lisboa/AIP, from 2nd to 5th March 2006 with the theme of eCommerce. In this context, due to the Government’s decision in August 2005 for eInvoicing to be adopted by the public administration by the end of 2006, Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), in partnership with FIL, is organising the following seminar on 3rd March 2006:

2nd Digital Europaper Seminar:-Adopting Electronic Invoicing as a Modernising Feature

Resetting and reinforcing tax incentives for entrepreneurial R&D

Law nº 40/2005, of 3rd August, which was approved following a Government initiative in the scope of the Technological Plan, resets and reinforces the Tax Breaks for the Entrepreneurial R&D System (SIFIDE) in force from 2002 to 2004. This system, which was first introduced in October 1997, had already been reinforced by the Decree Law approved in 2001, but was interrupted in 2004.

Council of Ministers rules on adoption of eInvoicing

The Council of Ministers Resolution nº 137/2005, published in the 17th August Diário da República, states that by the 31st December 2006, the public services and organisms that are directly and indirectly part of the State administration shall issue invoices or equivalent documents by electronic means and shall give preference to receiving invoices by electronic means also. Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) was selected to monitor and assess the execution of this resolution.

Portugal Climbs to 1st in the European Ranking of Public Services Online

Portugal moved up to 1st in the Ranking of Online Sophistication of Basic Public Services (from 4th in 2007) and also to 1st in the Ranking of Full Online Availability of Basic Public Services (from 3rd place in 2007), in the 30 countries EU27 + Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. 

It should be noted that from 2006 and 2007 Portugal had already registered major jumps in these rankings, as it had also registered major improvements in these indicators the previous period from the end of 2004 to 2006. 

In fact, in the 5 years between the assessments of 2004 and 2009, Portugal had in each one of the two indicators the extraordinary jump from 16th to 1st place and from 15th to 1st place, respectively in the corresponding rankings of the 30 countries of EU27 + Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, that is, Portugal jumped from the middle of the table to first place in both rankings. 

Portugal leads Europe on Dematerialisation and Use of ICT in Justice

According to the Report on Dematerialization and the Use of ICT, Lisbon 16-17 March 2009, of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice Council of Europe (CoE), published in Strasbourg on June 11, 2009, Portugal is in the top position of the 47 European countries that are members of the CoE in dematerialization and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Justice. 

The report states that several projects initiated since 2005 have led to very positive results, namely: by the end of February 2009, the enterprises created by the Enterprise on the Spot program reached more more than 67,900 companies and this system is used for about 70% of all enterprises being created in Portugal, 4,373 enterprises were created completely through the Internet (with the system developed by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and in operation since June 2006, see The Enterprise’s Portal which was also developed by UMIC and is in operation since June 2006), more than 1,400 associations were created completely through the Internet, more than 31,260 acts of Commercial Registry were done online, more than 1 million permanent certificates were issued via the Internet, about 1.5 million acts of enterprises were published in the Internet instead of the III series of the Portugal Official Journal (Diário da República), as it was the case before. Since it was created in December 2006 until the end of January 2009, the service providing permanent certificates to enterprises on the Internet, issued more than 1 million permanent certificates. By the end of 2008, more than 792,000 Simplified Business Information (IES) declarations were reported through the Internet in a single form instead of the paper forms that previously required to be submitted annually to four different public organizations (Fiscal Administration, Commercial Registry, National Statistics Institute, Bank of Portugal). 

Ministry of Finance and Public Administration Communication Costs Cut

• Estimated 29% cost cuts for mobile voice service and landline-mobile voice gateways
• Estimated cost cuts of over 45% for landline telephone services
• Potential savings of more than 3.6 million Euros in 3 years

Contracting for land mobile services for voice and data, and landline telephony at the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration (MFAP) was conducted by the Secretary General’s Office at this Ministry (SGMFAP) and received comprehensive technical and negotiating support from Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) in terms of setting requirements, assessment factors and negotiating strategy. Contracts were concluded that are cross-cutting for the entire MFAP with uniform provision conditions, including usage indicators for services that may enable future improvements for use, increased alignment of the organisation with the guidelines laid out by the management of the most representative information systems at the Ministry and the obtention of significant cost cuts.

Online Patent Register

As of 24th September 2007, it is now possible to file for a patent online at the INPI – National Intellectual Property Institute (site in Portuguese) web site. This service will make life easier for citizens and companies, as it requires no travel and cuts costs by 50%.

Online Services for Companies Create Major Impact

540 companies have been set up online since this service was made available on 30th June 2006 and an average of two companies per day are set up online.

Portugal Climbs to 3rd and 4th in European Online Availability of Public Services Ranking

Portugal climbs up the Rankings for Sophistication of Online Public Services from 2006 to 2007:

- From 12th to 4th in the 30 countries of the EU27 + Norway, Iceland and Switzerland,
- From 11th to 4th in the EU27,
- From 9th to 2nd in the EU15,

Portugal climbs significantly in the Full Availability of Public Services Ranking from 2006 to 2007:
- From 11th to 3rd in the 30 countries of the EU27 + Norway, Iceland and Switzerland,
- From 10th to 3rd in the EU27,
- From 7th to 2nd in the EU15, overtaking Denmark, Slovenia, Estonia, Finland, France, Norway, United Kingdom and Sweden.

eGovernment Progress in EU Report Published

The eGovernment Progress in EU27+ - Reaping the benefits Report was published on 19th September 2007 at the Ministerial eGovernment Conferencelatest new, which took place in Lisbon from 19th to 21st September 2007 and was attended by 22 Ministers responsible for eGovernment in different European countries.

Ministerial eGovernment Conference

In the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, the 4th Ministerial eGovernment Conference, organised by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, AMA – Agency for Administrative Modernisation (site in Portuguese), and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), in conjunction with the European Commission, will be held from 19th to 21st September 2007 in Lisbon.

This conference will be dedicated to the topic of “Reaping the Benefits of eGovernment” and will broach the following four main themes:

• Better Public Services for Growth and Employment
• Participation and Transparency
• Social Impact and Cohesion
• Efficient and Efficacious Government

Online Register for Car Sales and Purchases

As of 4th September 2007, it is now possible to file records of car purchases and sales online and pay for these records.

To transfer records, buyer and vendor authentification is required at the Automóvel Online web site, where the records are requested and confirmed using eSignature certificates.

Authentication with an electronic signature can be done on the Automóvel Online website by the purchaser or seller themselves if they have a Citizen's Card, or by proxy through a lawyer, solicitor or notary who holds an electronic signature certificate, which is widespread in Portugal in these professions. In this way, the identity authentification system is identical to the one that has been used since 30th June 2006 to set up companies online via the Portal da Empresa (Enterprise´s Portal).

Portugal Helps New EU Countries to Join Schengen Area in 2007

The European Council and the Hague Programme set the political objective of ensuring the New Member States (MS) of the EU25 could join the Schengen Area by October 2007. The Schengen Area, which ensures free movement of people without controls at MS’ borders, currently covers the EU15 countries, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and also includes Iceland and Norway, which do not belong to the EU.

Cutting Communication Costs at the Ministry of the Environment

Awarding the contract for the Land Mobile Service for Voice and GPRS Data for the Secretary General’s Office of the Ministry of the Environment, Town and Country Planning and Regional Development, which began with a call for tender launched in September 2006 was concluded on 14th June 2007 when the respective contract was signed with OPTIMUS – Telecomunicações, SA.

Press Conference on the 4th Ministerial eGovernment Conference

A press conference on the 4th Ministerial eGovernment Conference (19th – 21st September 2007) will be held on 9th July 2007 at 11 am at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers with the Secretary of State for Administrative Modernisation, Maria Manuel Leitão Marques, and the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães.

Simplified Company Information

The IES – Simplified Company Information was unveiled on 30th April 2007, making it possible for the first time to send a single electronic declaration by the internet with four pieces of information that had previously had to be given to four different bodies: the annual accounts and tax information declaration for the Tax Office, the records of accounts to be handed to the Commercial Records Office and the information for statistical purposes for the INE (Portuguese Statistics Office) and the Bank of Portugal. Companies therefore no longer need to go to these bodies’ premises, cutting the very costs for presenting accounts and scrapping the requirement for these documents to be delivered in paper format. At the same time the thoroughness, consistency and transparency of the information given have increased.

Citizen's Card Launched

The new identification document for Portuguese citizens, the Citizen's Card, was officially presented on 14th February at the Teatro Faialense in the city of Horta. The card will first be available to citizens of the island of Faial in the Autonomous Region of the Azores and is planned to reach the entire country by 2008.

This new document includes various physical security aspects and also features electronic authentication by qualified digital signature. It replaces the I.D. Card, Taxpayer’s Card, Social Security Card, National Health Service User Card and, as soon as the Electoral System Law is revised, the Voter Card.

Online Brand Register

A ceremony was held on 22nd December 2006 at the INPI – National Industrial Property Institute to mark the launch of the Online Brand Register. The ceremony was attended by the Minister for Justice, the Secretary of State for Justice and the Under Secretary of State for the Economy and Innovation.

It is now possible to register brands, brand certificates and renew the registration of brands online at http://www.inpi.pt/ (site in Portuguese). There are roughly 35 thousand such cases annually, which corresponds to approximately 70% of all the INPI’s work.

Online Trade and Permanent Certificate Register Available

The launch for the Online Trade and Permanent Citizens Register was held on 20th December 2006 at the Trade Register Office, Av. Fontes Pereira de Melo 7, Lisbon. The ceremony was attended by the Minister for Justice, the Secretary of State for Justice and the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education.

Company Online - Portal da Empresa (The Enterprise’s Portal)

It has been possible to set up a company online in Portugal since 30th June 2006 and the first steps towards the Portal da Empresa (The Enterprise’s Portal) have been taken. These services were launched at a session at the Lisbon Congress Centre (ex-FIL/Junqueira) where the Prime Minister, the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education were present and where the first company was set up online.

Commercial share-owned companies, limited liability companies and civil law companies having a commercial form may now be set up online, using eSignature certificates. These signatures will be available to everyone on the Citizen’s Card, which will be distributed from 2006, replacing the traditional identity card and other forms of identification used in dealings with the government. However, people who have or have acquired advanced electronic signatures may already set up companies online. Alternatively, lawyers, solicitors and notaries who already have advanced electronic signatures and have proxy powers may be used to set up companies. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to go to the public services to set up companies and the interested parties may well be in different locations.

Setting up a company online is cheaper than doing it the traditional way and there is a reduction in the cost for companies in the IT or research and development fields. Additionally, the new company is automatically given a .pt domain on the Internet allocated by the FCCN - Foundation for National Scientific Computation.

Portugal Climbs European Online Availability of Public Services Ranking

Portugal up in the Ranking for Full Online Availability of Public Services from October 2004 to April 2006:

- From 15th to 11th in the 28 countries of the EU25 + Norway, Iceland and Switzerland,
- From 13th to 10th in the EU25,
- From 11th to 7th in the EU15, Overtaking Germany, Spain, Ireland, Iceland and Italy.

Portugal’s figures are now higher than the average for the countries in all the groups considered.

Proof of concept for the Citizen's Card

The presentation session for the proof of concept for the Citizen’s Card Project was held on 8th March 2006 at the Lisbon Congress Centre. This session was chaired by His Excellency the Prime Minister and was attended by other members of the Government, heads of public bodies and companies participating in the proof of concept.

Project

The Citizen’s Card project is a key project in the XVII Constitutional Government’s administrative modernisation policy and will be one of the main technological, procedural and legal levers in the modernisation strategy.

Workshop "e-Government in Canada: Best Practices"

The e-Government in Canada: Best Practices Workshop is being held on 8-02-2006 from 10 am to 12.30 pm at the INA – National Administration Institute, IP. The main speaker is Christine Desloges, Director-General of Canada’s Government On-Line Initiative. This event is a joint initiative of the UCMA – Coordinating Unit for Administrative Modernisation, INA and Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Online auction for I.T. equipment procurement for 23 organisms and 7 ministries

In the scope of the National eProcurement Programme, coordinated by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), an Internet auction was held on the morning on the 9th August 2005 at the Penafiel Palace for I.T equipment procurement for 23 organisms from 7 ministries and three public companies.

New Survey Data about the Information Society in Portugal 2008

The 9 February 2009, saw the updating of published Internet data on the Information Society in Portugal ((i) Electronic Communications, (ii) ICT and the Population, (iii) electronic Public Administration, (iv) ICT Training and Education, (v) ICT in Hospitals, (vi) Digital Economy) obtained from various surveys carried out in 2008 by public bodies, mostly of an annual nature, and which have been jointly published for the last two years. The published data includes chronological series from the start of the systematic phase of the respective surveys and benchmarks various indicators at a European Union level based on EUROSTAT data. A summary of the main results will be included after this news item.

Results of 2008 ICT Public Administration Surveys

The 30 December 2008 saw the publication of the results of the 2008 surveys concerning the use of ICT in Central Government, Regional Government and Local Authorities, carried out by Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) from September to November 2008. These surveys had the highest return rates ever, 100%, 100% and 98%, respectively.

Public Administration Information Technology Use 2007

All Central Government bodies have an Internet connection, 87% with a speed of or above 512 Kbps, while 63% of bodies have connections of or above 2 Mbps and there has been 29% growth over a year for this type of connection.

In terms of the online activities carried out by Central Government bodies, there was a significant increase from 2006 to 2007 in External Communication with Citizens (the percentage of bodies performing this activity more than doubled and is now 60%), External Communication with Companies (71% increase, now 65%) and Consultation of Procurement Catalogues (more than tripled, now 60%).

New Data from Information Society in Portugal Surveys 2007

An updated compilation of data on the Information Society in Portugal will be posted on the Internet today. The data comes from different surveys that were conducted in 2007 under the responsibility of public bodies. Most of the surveys are annual and publication of all the data started a year ago. The published data includes chronological series from the start of the systematic phase of the respective surveys and benchmarks various indicators at European Union level based on EUROSTAT data. A summary of the main results will be included after this news item.

Entreprise Information and Communication Technologies Use 2007

90% of all small, medium and large enterprises have Internet access, of which 77% have broadband.These figures increase to 98% and 89% for medium-sized enterprises, and to 100% and 97% for large enterprises.99% of enterprises in the financial sector have Internet access, 95% of which have broadband.

In the construction and retail sectors, there was a 33% increase in the number of enterprises with broadband connections from 2006 to 2007, and the percentage of construction enterprises with an Internet site grew 80%.

73% of all small, medium and large enterprises use the Internet to deal with the State, which corresponds to a 20% rise from 2006 to 2007. Internet use for dealing with the State has risen to 95% in the financial sector.

66% of small, medium and large enterprises from all sectors except the financial one fill in and send forms to the State online, which places Portugal in 3rd position in the EU27 for this indicator, hot on the heels of Finland and Ireland, and far above the EU27 average, which is 43%.The figure for this indicator in the financial sector has risen to 92%.

The INE – National Statistics Institute published an information note for the media on the 2007 Enterprise Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Use Survey (text in Portuguese) yesterday - 4th December 2007. This survey was conducted by this institute in conjunction with Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC). This survey, which is conducted yearly and in accordance with Eurostat’s methodological recommendations, refers to data from the 1st quarter of 2007.

Family Information and Communication Technologies Use 2007

90% of people who have attended higher education, 81% of people with secondary schooling and 24% of people with the 9th year of education or less use the Internet .For these indicators, Portugal lies in 5th, 7th and 21st place in the EU respectively and in the first two cases only is placed alongside the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, France and the United Kingdom.

97% and 99% of students use the Internet and computers respectively.Portugal lies in 8th and 4th place in the EU respectively for these indicators.These are signs that the Internet and computers have been introduced efficiently in schools.

77% of households with the Internet have a broadband connection.The number of households with broadband grew 27% last year.

Enterprise ICT Use Data

98% of large enterprises (250 or more employees), 90% of medium-sized enterprises (between 50 and 249 employees) and 62% of small enterprises (between 10 and 49 employees) have a broadband Internet connection, putting Portugal in 3rd (alongside four other countries), 10th and 17th place respectively in the EU25 ranking.

100% of large enterprises, 99% of medium-sized enterprises use computers and have an Internet connection. 94% of small enterprises use computers and 80% have an Internet connection.

The first results from the Survey on enterprise Information and Communication Technology Use – 2006 from the INE – National Statistics Institute with the collaboration of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), were published in an INE press release on 22nd December 2006.

Central and Local Public Administration invests in Broadband

32% growth over the last year for Central Government bodies with a broadband connection of above 2 Mbps.

50% growth over the last year for Central Government bodies providing services online using information and functions stored on the databases of other bodies.

Observing the Information Society in Portugal Seminar: State of Art

Use of computers by those with secondary and higher education is one of the highest in the EU25 - 87% and 91% respectively.

Use of the Internet by those with secondary and higher education is one of the highest in the EU25 - 80% and 87% respectively.

Family ICT Use 2006

68% of households with the Internet have a broadband connection

Portugal overtakes Italy and Ireland in terms of households with broadband

The INE – National Statistics Institute released a statement to the media yesterday on the 2006 Survey on Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by Families, which was conducted in collaboration between this institute and the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC). This survey, which is conducted yearly and in accordance with Eurostat’s methodological recommendations, refers to data from the 1st quarter of 2006.

Public Administration invests in Broadband

100% central government bodies have an Internet connection, of which 85% have broadband.

100% of Municipal Councils also have an Internet connection, 95% of which have broadband.

The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) today publishes data on central and local government use of information and communication technologies in 2006, obtained from two surveys: one for Central Government and the other for Local Government.

Enterprise ICT Use

Results from the 2005 Survey on enterprise ICT Use are now available. The survey was conducted by the INE - National Statistics Institute in conjunction with the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

The Results from the 2005 Survey on Financial Sector enterprise ICT Use (text in Portuguese)  and the Results from the 2005 Survey on Financial Sector enterprise ICT Use Results from the 2005 Survey on Micro enterprise ICT Use (text in Portuguese) are also available.

3rd Iberian-American Seminar on Information Society Indicators, 29th and 30th September

RICYT, Red Iberoamericana de Indicadores de Ciencia y Tecnologia (site in Spanish) and the Research and Study Centre in Sociology / Employment and enterprise Science Institute (CIES/ISCTE), with the support of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Science and Higher Education Observatory (OCES) (site in Portuguese) and INE - National Statistics Institute (INE), are organising the 3rd Iberian-American Seminar on Information Society Indicators.

Meeting of Ministers of Science, Technology and Higher Education of the CPLP

On August 29, 2009, the Ministers CPLP – Community of Portuguese Language Countries responsible for science and technology and for higher education met in Lisbon.

Portugal has the Presidency of the CPLP this year and prepared an agenda which includes the discussion of a Portuguese proposal to create a, in a completely innovative approach, a UNESCO Centre for advanced training in science within the institutions of the CPL (text of the declaration in Portuguese) , combining the high-level scientific training, namely through PhD programs, with the training for the social responsibility of scientists, the public communication of science, and integration in international networks and research programs, with the objective of facilitating the scientific development of the countries of origin and of combating the brain drain. Portugal ensures the launching and the early operation of this new center of distributed advanced scientific training, in cooperation with UNESCO and in combination with other CPLP countries.

President of UMIC Represents Portugal at Meeting of the UN's CSTD in Geneva

The 12th meeting of the UN’s CSTD – Commission on Science and Technology for Development starts today, 25th May 2009, at the Palace of the Nations of the UNO – United Nations Organisation, in Geneva, which runs from 25th to 29th May.

Portugal was elected as a member of the CSTD with a mandate until the end of 2012 at a meeting of the UN’s ECOSOC – Economic and Social Committee held on 18th May 2009 at UN headquarters in New York. It hereby becomes one of 10 Western countries on this Commission, which currently includes Germany, Austria, Belgium, the United States of America, Finland, France, Israel, Switzerland and Turkey.

Portugal Elected Member of the UN's CSTD – President of UMIC Represents Portugal

Portugal was elected to the UN’s CSTD – Commission on Science and Technology for Development yesterday in New York, with a mandate until the end of 2012. This election took place at a meeting of the UN’s ECOSOC – Economic and Social Committee held on 18th May 2009 at UN headquarters in New York. Portugal hereby becomes one of Western countries on this Commission, which currently also includes Germany, Austria, Belgium, the United States of America, Finland, France, Israel, Switzerland and Turkey.

The representatives of CSTD Member States are nominated by the UN based on the qualifications and scientific or professional knowledge necessary for the Commission’s mandate. Portugal’s entry into the CSTD was thus approved by ECOSOC through the election of Luis Magalhães, President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

4th Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes

A videoconference with several Brazilian institutions was held at Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 18th May 2009 to help prepare potential cooperation programmes in science, technology, innovation and information society fields, following on from previous videoconferences held on 22nd and 8th April and 17th March 2009.

The videoconference was held between the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, and representing Brazil, the Head of the International Affairs Department at the Ministry of Science and Technology, José Monserrat Filho. It enabled a series of important agreements for concrete bilateral cooperation programmes to be wrapped up successfully. These could potentially open a new era of opportunities for effective work between the two countries’ researchers, scientific institutions and public policy bodies for science, technology and the information society.

Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (May 2009)

The High Level Group on Internet Governance (HLIG), an informal group of experts who advise the European Commission, met in Brussels on 7th May 2009.

The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the European Union (EU) and European Commission positions on the development of the ICANN – Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers, the HLIG contribution to the Notice of Inquiry by the US Department of Commerce entitled “The Continued Transition of the Technical Coordination and Management of the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System: Midterm Review of the Joint Project Agreement”, the developments addressed at the last meeting of the GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee which took place at the time of the 34th Meeting of the ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the Presidency report on the IGF – Internet Governance Forum, preparation for the IGF 2009 Public Multi-stakeholder Consultations which will be held in May 2009 and the European Commission report on the adoption of DNSSec.

Hearing on Internet Governance Arrangements

The European Commission called a Hearing on Internet Governance Arrangements on 6th May 2009 in Brussels prior to the High Level Group on Internet Governance scheduled for the day after. The objective of this hearing was to contribute to the discussion on the future of Internet governance, in a year when the ICANN (Internet Corporation on Assigned Names and Numbers) will undergo changes to its institutional situation with the termination of the contract with the US Department of Commerce on 30th September, and with discussions of the future of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), due to its 5-year mandate expiring in 2010, which means that discussions on reviewing it and whether to continue with it or not will also begin this year.

ICT at the XII Iberian-American Conference of Ministers of Culture

The XII Iberian-American Conference on Culture took place on 22nd April 2009 at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon. The Conference hosted ministers for culture from Iberian-American countries and included an intervention from the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), speaking at the invitation of the Portuguese Minister for Culture, entitled The role of new technologies in promoting Shared Languages and Multiculturalism (in Portuguese).

This ministerial conference was dedicated to the topic “Portuguese and Spanish, Shared Languages, Instruments of Identity, Creativity and Multiculturalism” and resulted in the approval of a Declaration (in Portuguese), which, inter alia, includes:

13th Meeting of the OECD Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society

The 13th Meeting of the OECD Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS) of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) was held on 23rd – 24th April 2009 in Paris.

The meeting agenda included information and proposals from Member States on ICT measures, the potential for synergies between private and official statistics, the OECD’s Innovation Strategy, the response to the economic and financial crisis for sustainable recovery, the outcomes of the PISA study on ICT and education, the key factors for household spending on ICT, analysis of the role of ICT in transmitting knowledge, analysis of innovation encouraged by ICT, a proposal to update the definition of eCommerce, measuring the relationship between ICT and the environment, ICT statistics and global trade, ICT indicators in the health sectors and gauging the social impact of ICT.

EU National ICT Directors General Forum, Prague

The half-yearly meeting of the National ICT Directors General Forum was held on 20th April 2009 in Prague, Czech Republic. This forum hosts Directors-General responsible for the Information and Communication Technologies area in the 27 EU Member States and the external associate countries of the EU Framework Research Programme.

3rd Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes

A videoconference with several Brazilian institutions was held at Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 22nd April 2009 to help prepare potential cooperation programmes in science, technology, innovation and information society fields, following on from previous videoconferences held on 8th April and 17th March 2009.

The videoconference was held between the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, representing Portugal, and representing Brazil, the Head of the International Affairs Department at the Ministry of Science and Technology, José Monserrat Filho, and the President of FINEP – Study and Project Funding, Luis Manuel Fernandes.

2nd Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes

A videoconference with several Brazilian institutions was held at Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 8th April 2009 to help prepare potential cooperation programmes in science, technology, innovation and information society fields, following on from the Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes held on 17th March.

The videoconference was held between the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, representing Portugal, and representing Brazil, the Head of the International Affairs Department at the Ministry of Science and Technology, José Monserrat Filho, and the President of FINEP – Study and Project Funding, Luis Manuel Fernandes.

1st Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research

The 1st Euro-Africa Cooperation Forum on ICT Research was held on 25th and 26th March 2009 in Brussels. It was organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Information Society and Media, with the support of the African Union Commission and the EuroAfrica-ICT project of the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7).

Portugal-Brazil Videoconference to Prepare Cooperation Programmes

A videoconference with several Brazilian institutions was held at the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) on 17th March 2009 for initial discussions on preparing potential cooperation programmes in science, technology, innovation and information society fields.

The videoconference was held between the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), Luis Magalhães, representing Portugal, and representing Brazil, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Luiz António Elias, and the President of FINEP– Study and Project Funding, Luis Manuel Fernandes.

Meeting of the OECD's Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policies (57th meeting)

The 57th meeting of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee was held in Paris on 11th to 13th March 2009.  The meeting agenda included a review of the access process for various countries to OECD membership, discussion of the economic crisis, the framework for non-governmental stakeholder participation in the ICCP’s work, the midterm report on the innovation strategy, proposals for the Technology Foresight Forum, information on reports regarding economic reform policy and policy coherence and development, a study on setting up partnerships for the Internet economy, reports from the ICCP Working Party on the implementation of the agenda from the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy (text in Portuguese) held in Seoul in June 2008, and a study on ICT and the environment.

34th Meeting of ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

The 34th meeting of the ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was held in Mexico City on 1st – 6th March 2009 and was attended by more than 1,200 participants from over 100 countries.  As is customary, the 33rd meeting of the GAC – ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee took place in parallel. The GAC comprises representatives from governments of countries and public authorities from regional economies and intergovernmental organisations, and covers public policy matters related to the ICANN's activities. The GAC currently has 80 members and 12 observers (see GAC composition (in Portuguese)).

The main items on the agenda at this GAC meeting were: the process of adopting internationalised domain names (IDNs) in terms of top domain country codes, the process of adopting top generic domain names, the role and functioning of the GAC, analysis and contributions for the PSC - President’s Strategic Committee report, GAC interaction with ccNSO - Country Code Names Supporting Organization and the ICANN Board.

Multi-stakeholder Public Consultations as part of Preparing for IGF 2009

The first public consultations of 2009 for preparing the 5th IGF – Internet Governance Forum, which will take place in Egypt in November, were held on 23rd – 24th February at the UN in Geneva. As is customary, representatives of governments, enterprises, civil society, the Internet technical community and NGOs were present. The main topics were the results and modus operandi from the Internet Governance Forum 2008 that was staged in Hyderabad, India, in December 2008, and how to improve the exchange of ideas and discussion between all participants at the IGF in November 2009.

9th meeting of the i2010 High Level Group

The 9th meeting of the i2010 High Level Group took place on 24th February 2009 in the European Commission Presidency building in Brussels. The members are Directors-General for the Information Society, representing the Member States.

Portugal is represented at the i2010 High Level Group by the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

OECD Workshop on Measuring Mobile/Wireless Service Data

The OECD-ANACOM Expert Workshop on Measuring Mobile/Wireless Service Data was staged on 19th -20th February 2009 at Culturgest, Lisbon. It was organised in the scope of the WPCISP – Working Party on Communication Infrastructure and Services of the OECD’s ICCP – Information, Computer and Communication Policy Committee. The objective of this workshop is to produce a methodology to obtain data on wireless broadband service subscriptions, categorising bandwidth differences and data transfer limits, and comparing prices.

OECD Seminar on Sustainability and the Role of Innovation Policies in the Financial Crisis

An OECD Seminar on Sustainability and the Role of Innovation Policies in the Financial Crisis was held at the OECD headquarters in Paris on 16th February 2009.

The Portuguese delegation, headed by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), included members of UMIC from the Office of the National Coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and the Technological Plan and from the Portuguese Permanent Delegation to the OECD. The following are some of the measures adopted in Portugal that were compiled in response to the OECD Secretariat questionnaire coordinated by the Directorate-General for Technical and Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (2007 - 2013)

A call for tenders was opened in the scope of the Information and Communication Technologies Policy Support Programme (2007-2013) on 29th January 2009 for the following topics and objectives:

• ICT for health, ageing and Inclusion (ICT for patient-centred health services, Innovative eHealth tools and services in real life – learning together, ICT for ageing well / independent living, e-Accessibility thematic network);
• Digital Libraries (European Digital Library - services, European Digital Library – aggregating digital content in Europeana, European Digital Library – Digitising content for Europeana, Open access to scientific information, Use of cultural heritage material for education);

Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (Feb 2009)

The HLIG – High Level Group on Internet Governance, an informal group of experts advising the European Commission, met on 4th February 2009 in Brussels. Their main goal was to discuss the European Union position for the multi-stakeholder public consultations being held on 23rd - 24th February 2009 at the UN in Geneva.

Trilateral Meeting on European Union Financial Perspectives in the Competitiveness Area

A meeting with representatives from Spain, Greece and Portugal was held at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation on 29th January 2009 in Madrid on the Financial Perspectives of the European Union 2014-2021 in the area of Competitiveness.

XXIV Portugal – Spain Summit

The XXIV Portugal – Spain Summit was held on 22nd January 2009 in Zamora, Spain. The following conclusions were approved in the fields of Science, Technology and Higher Education: “The two governments reaffirm their commitment to providing a joint boost to the science and technology systems of both countries as fundamental drivers in terms of improving productivity and developing solid knowledge and innovation-based economies.

Meeting of the OECD Innovation Strategy Committee Presidents

A Meeting of the OECD Innovation Strategy Committee Presidents was held on 20th January 2009 at the OCDE headquarters in Paris aimed at discussing the draft midterm report on the said strategy.

Members of the delegations of different countries involved in the bureaux of different committees and working parties took part, namely Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and members of the OECD Secretariat and the committees involved. The President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) took part in his role as Vice President of the ICCP – Information, Computer and Communication Policy Committee.

324th Meeting of CREST – the EU’s Scientific and Technical Research Committee

The 324th Meeting of CREST – the Scientific and Technical Research Committee took place on 16th January 2009 in the Council of the European Union building in Brussels. It was chaired by the Director-General for Research.

This meeting was attended at Director-General level by the representations of the Member States and associate countries under the 7th Framework Programme for IDT. The Portuguese delegation was headed by the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Meeting of the OECD's Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (56th session)

The 56th session of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) took place on 11th -12th December 2008 in Paris.

 This meeting’s agenda covered the election of the Committee Bureau, discussion and approval of extending the stakeholders who may take part in the Committee’s work, review and approval of new mandates for the Committee’s subordinate groups (Information Economy, Information Security and Privacy, Infrastructure and Communication Services Policies, Information Society Indicators), analysis of the accession process of new countries to the OECD in progress and the ICCP budget, discussion of the Committee’s work plan for the 2009-2010 period, the report and discussion of the Internet Governance Forum 2008 that took place in Hyderabad, India, the week before, information and discussion on the Innovation Strategy adopted by the OECD, information and discussion of the main aspects from the 2008 Information Technology Outlook report, and information and discussion of the Counterfeiting and Piracy Project underway. The President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) headed the Portuguese delegation at this meeting.

UMIC President elected Vice President of the OECD's ICCP Committee

Luis Magalhães, President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), was elected today, 11th December 2008, to the Bureau of the OECD’s Information, Computers and Communication Policy Committee (ICCP) as Vice President of this Committee, together with representatives from Germany, Canada (President), the United States of America, Finland, Italy, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

This Committee (ICCP – Information, Computer and Communications Policy) operates within the OECD’s DSTI – Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry and is responsible for promoting the necessary regulatory policies and environments for the growth of the Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as drivers of innovation, productivity, growth and social well-being. 

Internet Governance Forum 2008

The 3rd meeting of the IGF - Internet Governance Forum was held in Hyderabad, India, on 3rd – 6th December 2007.

The IGF was created in the scope of the United Nations, in the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Tunis on 16th – 18th November 2005 (see Portugal takes part in the World Summit on the Information Society). The 1st meeting of the IGF was staged in Athens, Greece, on 30th October to 2nd November 2006, and the 2nd meeting took place in Rio de Janeiro from 12th to 15th November 2007.

The main sessions at the 3rd IGF meeting covered the following topics: Reaching the Next Billion, Promoting Cyber-Security and Trust, Managing Critical Internet Resources, Emerging Issues, and Taking Stock and the Way Forward. More than 85 workshops and other sessions ran concurrently (see session programme).

National ICT Directors-General Forum, Lyon

The half-yearly meeting of the National ICT Directors-General Forum was held on 26th November in Lyon, France. This forum comprises the Directors-General responsible for Information and Communication Technologies in the 27 EU Member States and associate countries under the EU Framework Programme for Research.

8th Meeting of the i2010 High Level Group

The 8th Meeting of the i2010 High Level Group was held on 18th November 2008 in the Presidency of the European Commission building in Brussels. The members are Directors-General for the Information Society, representing the Member States.

Portugal is represented at the i2010 High Level Group by the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Meeting of the High Level Group on Internet Governance (Nov 2008)

The HLIG – High Level Group on Internet Governance), an informal group of experts advising the European Commission, met in Geneva, their main objective being to discuss the European Union position at the 3rd meeting of the Internet Governance Forum 2008 that was held in Hyderabad, India, on 3rd – 6th December 2008.

Space for Development: The Case of the GMES Initiative and Africa Conference

In the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union and to mark the EU - Africa Summit of 7th – 9th December, the Space for Development: The Case of GMES and Africa conference is being held on 6th – 7th December 2007 at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon. The conference is being jointly organised by Portugal’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education together with the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission and the GMES – Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative.

GMES – Global Monitoring for Environment and Security is an initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA), which is designed to collect and provide reliable and up-to-date data on the state of the environment and environmental monitoring with a view to its preservation and preventing risk situations (e.g. floods, forest fires and water pollution).

317th Meeting of CREST – Scientific and Technical Research Committee, European Union

The 317th meeting of CREST – Scientific and Technical Research Committee, chaired by the Deputy Director General for Research at the European Commission, Zoran Stancic, will take place in the Council of the European Union building in Brussels on 7th December 2007.

This is the 3rd CREST meeting under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, the 1st meeting of which was held in Brussels in the first week of the Presidency, the 2nd meeting in Ponta Delgada on 11th – 12th October 2007. The first point on the agenda is Presidency information presented by the head of the Portuguese delegation, Luis Magalhães, President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

5th Meeting of the High Level i2010 Group and Industry Round Table on Networks of the Future

A meeting of the i2010 High Level Group will be held in the headquarters of the European Commission building in Brussels on the afternoon of 28th November 2007. The members are Directors-General for the Information Society, representing the Member States.

Portugal is represented at the i2010 High Level Group by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Forum of National ICT Directors-General of the European Union Meeting

The half-yearly Forum of National ICT Directors-General of the European Union will be held on 19th November 2007 in Braga, the day before the High Level Conference on Nanotechnologies. This forum brings together the Directors-General responsible for the field of Information and Communication Technologies in the 27 Member States of the EU and external countries associated with the EU’s Framework Research Programme.

EU-MED Event

The “EU-MED Event” will take place on 23rd-24th October 2007 in Brussels. The objective of this event is to focus on aspects of collaboration are aspects of collaboration between the European Union and the Non-EU countries around the Mediterranean, namely in the fields of research infrastructures, including national research and education networks (EUMEDCONNECT) and their links to the European GÉANT network, GRID Computation (EUMEDGRID) and other e-Infrastructures.

There will be interventions from HRH Princess of Jordan Sumayya Bint Al Hassan,Dr. Najib Abdul Wahed,Deputy Minister of Higher Education for Scientific Research, Syria, Mr. Mashour Abudaka, Minister, Palestine, among others. The President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) will take part on behalf of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU.

The organisation of the “EU-MED Event” is based on three projects setting up eInfrastructures in the Mediterranean region: EUMEDCONNECT, EUMEDGRID and GÉANT2 development support.

2nd meeting of the EUROMED Forum on the Information Society

The 2nd meeting of the EUROMED Forum on the Information Society will be held on 25th October 2007 in Brussels.

The opening session will commence with an intervention from the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), who will be representing the Portuguese Presidency of the EU. This will be followed by interventions by the Deputy Director General for the Information Society and Media at the European Commission and by the Director for International Relations from Egypt’s Ministry for Information and Communication Technologies.

The meeting agenda takes in various aspects of cooperation between the EU and non-EU countries around the Mediterranean in Information Society fields, including support projects for the Research and Education network under EUMEDCONNECT, which is connected to the GÉANT2 European network, other e-Infrastructures projects, including GRID Computation as part of the EUMEDGRID project, projects in the scope of the EU’s 7th Framework Research Programme, cooperation in regulating telecommunications and preparing the 2nd EUROMED Ministerial Conference on the Information Society, which will be held in Cairo, Egypt, in 2008.

316th Meeting of CREST – Scientific and Technical Research Committee, European Union

The 316th meeting of CREST – Scientific and Technical Research Committee, chaired by the Deputy Director General for Research at the European Commission, Zoran Stancic, will take place in Ponta Delgada on 11th – 12th October 2007.

This is the 2nd CREST meeting under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU. The previous CREST meeting was held in Brussels in the first week of the Presidency. The first point on the agenda is Presidency information, which shall include reference to the results of the “The Future of Science in Europe” High Level Conference held over the course of the three previous days in Lisbon, as well as the upcoming R&D events planned under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, which will be presented by the head of the Portuguese delegation, Luis Magalhães, President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Meeting of the OECD's Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policies

The 53rd Meeting of the OECD's Committee for Information, Computers and Communication Policies is being held in Ottawa, Canada from 4th to 5th October 2007. Topics for consideration at this meeting include the participative web, the OECD Ministerial Meeting on The Future of the Internet Economy - Shaping Policies for Creativity, Confidence and Convergence in the Digital World, which will be held in Seoul, Korea on 17th-18th June 2008, use of the Internet to improve economic performance and social well-being and the recent proof of the impact of ICT on economic growth. The Portuguese delegation at this meeting will be headed by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

The Committee for Information, Computers and Communication Policies meeting will be preceded by other OECD meetings.

Open Consultations and Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum's Advisory Group

The Open Consultations will be held at the United Nations in Geneva on 3rd September 2007 as part of the preparations for the 2nd Meeting of the IGF – Internet Governance Forum, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 12th to 15th November 2007. The IGF was set up under the 2nd phase of the WSIS – World Summit on the Information Society, which was held in Tunis from 16th-18th November 2005.

The 1st meeting of the IGF took place in Athens from 30th October to 2nd November 2006. As the Open Consultations are being held during the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union (EU), the Presidency will be represented by the Portuguese delegation headed by Luis Magalhães, President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

315th Meeting of CREST Scientific and Technical Research Committee, European Union

The 315th meeting of CREST – Scientific and Technical Research Committee, chaired by the Director General for Research at the European Commission, José Silva Rodriguez, and with Member States represented by their Director-Generals, will take place in the European Council building in Brussels on 6th July 2007. As this meeting is taking place a mere fortnight before the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Competitiveness  – Research, one of its objectives is to make progress on technical preparation points for the Informal Meeting of Ministers.

This CREST meeting will take place in the first week of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, therefore the first point on the agenda will be dedicated to information from the Presidency on the priorities and main events outlined for the R&D area, which will be presented by the head of the Portuguese delegation, Luis Magalhães, President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

4th Meeting of the i2010 High Level Group

A meeting of the i2010 High Level Group will be held in the headquarters of the European Commission building in Brussels on 20th April 2007. The members are Directors-General for the Information Society, representing the Member States.

Portugal is represented at the i2010 High Level Group by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC)

3rd Meeting of the i2010 High Level Group

A meeting of the i2010 High Level Group will be held in the headquarters of the European Commission building in Brussels on 12th December 2006. The members are Directors-General for the Information Society, representing the Member States.
Portugal is represented at the i2010 High Level Group by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

2nd Meeting of the i2010 High Level Group

A meeting of the i2010 High Level Group will be held in Helsinki on 27th Setember 2006. The members are Directors-General for the Information Society, representing the Member States.

Portugal is represented at the i2010 High Level Group by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Call for CYTED Proposals

A call for proposals in the scope of the CYTED Programme (Scientific and Technological Cooperation with the Iberian-American Region) is open until 30th June 2006 for Thematic Networks, Coordination Actions for Research Projects and Consortium-based Research Projects.

European Union - Latin America and Caribbean Ministerial Forum on the Information Society

The IV European Union - Latin America and Caribbean Ministerial Forum on the Information Society (text in Portuguese) will take place at the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon on 28th and 29th April 2006. It will be organised by the Portuguese Government and the European Commission, with the support of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and AHCIET - Asociación Hispanoamericana de Centros de Investigación y Empresas de Telecomunicaciones (in its role as a member of the InternationalStakeholder Networkconsortium of the European Union’s @LIS - Alliance for the Information Society Programme).

1st Meeting of the i2010 High Level Group

The first meeting of the i2010 High Level Group will be held in the Headquarters of the European Commission building in Brussels on 20th April 2006. The members are Directors-General for the Information Society, representing the Member States.
Portugal is represented at the i2010 High Level Group by the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).

Portugal participates in the World Summit on the Information Society

Harnessing the benefits from the digital revolution and fostering worldwide discussion of the spread of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are the objectives of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), being held from 16th to 18th November in Tunis in the scope of the United Nations’ activities.
Portugal will be represented at the work at this United Nations’ World Summit by a delegation headed by the Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, representing the Prime Minister.
Minister Mariano Gago will address the Summit plenary on 17th November and on the same day will take part in a round table on the topic of From pledges to action – implementing the Tunis recommendations.

Memorandum of Understanding between Portuguese and Korean governments

The Portuguese Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education and South Korea’s Minister for Information and Communication will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Seoul on 16th September 2005.

Approval for the i2010 – programme replacing the eEurope 2005 action programme

The European Commission last week approved the i2010 - A European Information Society for growth and employment programme, which replaces the eEurope 2005 action programme.
Based around three pillars – where the convergence of policies, increased investment in information and communication technologies (ICT) and the promotion of an inclusive information society are aligned towards the same objective -, the new strategy has been earmarked as a new driver for the Lisbon Strategy, which has also undergone a rethink so that it focuses on growth and employment.

The "i2010: European Information Society 2010" strategy has been defined for the next five-year period and will be funded by the European Union’s programmes, namely the seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) and the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP), as both prioritise ICT as catalysts for Europe’s competitiveness. To promote a more inclusive information society for people, the European Commission will invest in an action plan for eGovernment services focused on citizens, which is scheduled to be launched in 2006. Added to this are three quality of life initiatives – including technology to help the elderly, intelligent vehicles and digital libraries for all – which are due to start by 2007. Actions to span social and geographical divides within Europe in the area of digital literacy will culminate in the e-Inclusion plan, with a start date pencilled in for 2008.

Forum on the Information Society – Internet Governance

On July 8, 2010, from 9:00 to 17:30, the Forum on the Information Society – Internet Governance will take place at ISCTE-IUL, Edifício II, Auditório B203, Av. das Forças Armadas, Lisboa, (see the Forum program). This Forum is open to all interested participants.

The purpose of this forum, organized back-to-back with the public session of the World Internet Project (July 7, also at ISCTE-IUL, Edifício II, Auditório B203) by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) in collaboration with the Foundation for National Scientific Computing (FCCN) and the Lisbon Internet and Networks Institute (LINI), is to discuss some of the main aspects of Internet Governance.

International Information and Communication Technologies Fair

Find out about the Connect Portugal programme’s projects to mobilise the Information and Knowledge Society

The International Information and Communication Technologies Fair (SITIC) is being held from 2nd to 5th November 2006 at the FIL – Parque das Nações, Lisbon. It is for the entire ICT sector and will host a huge array of company and citizen-oriented solutions in three major areas: Multimedia and Business Communications, Systems and Solutions, Equipment and Digital Content.

Forum for the Information Society

The Forum for the Information Society is a consultation and coordinating body for public policy development for the information society and brings together the main social, public and private stakeholders. It is open to the general public via interactive means.

National Programme for the Information Society - Connecting Portugal

Connecting Portugal is an action programme that is part of the XVII Government’s Technological Plan. Mobilising the Information and Knowledge Society.

This initiative was unveiled by the Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education on 30th July 2005 at a public ceremony chaired by the Prime Minister in Aveiro.