Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) main page.

Note for navigation with support technologies: in this page you find 3 main elements: search engine (shortcut key 1); the highlights at the main area of the page (shortcut key 2) e main menu (shortcut key 3).

Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC)
section: International Relations
Home > International Relations > News > OECD Seminar on Sustainability and the Role of Innovation Policies in the Financial Crisis

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

 - 16/02/2009

OECD logo 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:

  • Investments in New Generation Networks (NGN), following the investments in Community Networks in the second half of 2008.
  • Beefing up the tax deductions for R&D expenditure in enterprises, which now reach 82.5%, the highest rate in Europe.
  • Bolstering science jobs and advanced training for human resources through doctoral and post-doctorate grants and a programme for the employment of more than 1,000 doctorate researchers.
  • Promoting investment in R&D in association with major public contracts (of more than 25 million Euros, worth 0.5% to 1 % of the contract).
  • Higher education institution reform, including the possibility of institutions setting up as public foundations and consolidating relations with society at large and their role in innovation. Three public university institutions have been set up as foundations (Porto and Aveiro universities and ISCTE).
  • The establishment of R&D Consortia involving State laboratories and other public and private scientific and technological research institutions in areas including biotechnology, public risks, the oceans, nuclear physics and advanced computing, space technologies, energy and public health, to be launched after the Call for tenders for Pre-Proposals Setting up and Operating R&D Consortia that was opened in February 2009.
  • The operational start of the INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory being built in Braga as a joint Portuguese-Spanish initiative to be opened up to other countries in Europe and other continents to participate. It is also the 1st international scientific nanotechnology laboratory in the world.
  • Strengthening international cooperation through specific Partnerships for the Future involving Portuguese scientific institutions and enterprises and world-leading institutions, taking advantage of research schemes and the recent partnerships forged with MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Texas at Austin, and Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, including the setting up of the 1st Fraunhofer institute “embryo” outside Germany, which began operating in May 2008 and the creation of the Fraunhofer Portugal association in November 2008.
  • Investing in modernising secondary schools and the 2nd and 3rd cycles of elementary education by means of the Education Technological Plan.
  • Making it easier for SMEs to access credit through a partnership established with the main credit institutions operating in Portugal, involving a State guarantee and reduced interest rates.
  • Strengthening the market capital risk with schemes supporting setting up, restructuring and mergers of enterprises.
  • Creation of the Portugal Venture Capital Initiative, a fund managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF).
  • Support for the funding of private investment projects in agriculture or agro-industry and the creation of a credit line to support exports in the agro-industry.
  • Support for systems engineering research, via the MIT – Portugal Program, focusing particularly on sustainable energy systems using ICT.
  • Support for the installation of solar panels (300,000 m2) and micro-generation units (12,500 units) in 2009.
  • Improving energy efficiency in public buildings (hospitals, universities, courts, etc).
  • Investment in energy-measuring networks so that 10% of consumers have intelligent measurement systems.
  • Support to the car industry through training support for 10,000 workers from a special credit line dedicated to export-orientated enterprises, promotion of more efficient production processes, stimulus to scrap cars at the end of their working life and the purchase of low-emission vehicles.
  • Strengthening entrepreneurship and social protection.
  • Simplifying red-tape for R&D.
  • Exceptional measures to speed up public procurement processes in 2009-2010, in modernising schools, promoting renewable energies, energy efficiency and energy transport networks, New Generation Networks, and urban regeneration.
  • Earmarking investment in New Generation Networks through agreement between the Government and the main operators.

Adoption of regulatory measures to remove barriers to investment in New Generation Networks, namely access to conduits, telecommunications posts and other infrastructures, and the creation of a central information system on conduit location and characteristics.

Last updated ( 14/09/2011 )