Portugal approves Strategic Programme for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The Portuguese Government approved in December 2011 the Strategic Programme for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (“+E+I”). The programme aims to foster an entrepreneurial society, to broaden the range of innovative companies which are strongly driven to exports, and to strengthen Portugal’s integration in international knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship networks.
Entrepreneurship and innovation are seen as key success factors for improving the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy. However, despite considerable progress in these areas over the past decades, there are still significant structural problems which have a negative impact on the ability of the Portuguese economy to recover from the economic and financial crisis. To address these problems, Portugal launched in December the “Programme for Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, which goes beyond traditional R&D support schemes. The programme supports specifically business ideas and projects which are characterised by a highly innovative approach that stands up to international best practices.
A further specific feature of the new programme is that it aims to address and involve not only businesses, but the Portuguese society at large. The programme’s goals include:
- to promote an entrepreneurial society, leading to an intergenerational cultural change, in favour of initiative and entrepreneurship, rooted in education and nurtured over life, encouraging self-realization and development of skills;
- to broaden the range of innovative companies strongly driven to exports;
- to increase the global representation of entrepreneurship and innovation communities and encourage the sharing of experiences and skills;
- to improve the investment and obtain better results by focusing on companies with high innovation potential to allow them to create competitive advantages in market and in innovation adjacent areas critical to the success of products and services, such as marketing, quality management, and internationalization, among others.
To meet these objectives, the programme relies on four areas:
- Broaden knowledge and skills of the population, including young and socially unprotected people, companies and Public Administration:
- Promote creativity, digital literacy, culture, science and technology and entrepreneurship at all levels of education;
- Encourage companies to improve their management skills and abilities to innovate and globalize, through the acquisition of specific skills;
- Harness the creative and entrepreneurial potential of citizens, encouraging their involvement in the design of solutions, products or services, whether public or private;
- Encourage greater collaboration and interconnection of companies with the education system.
- Stimulate innovation, including product and process innovation, in technological and non-technological fields, to improve the competitiveness of Portuguese companies:
- Promote the link between research, creativity and innovation through the effective connection of business and universities and the promotion of national integration in the global knowledge networks;
- Encourage research aimed at generating economic value and development of human resources in technological areas and stimulate investment in science and innovation aimed at the creation of economic value.
- Encourage entrepreneurship, promoting an environment conducive to the emergence of entrepreneurial projects and their success:
- Encourage qualified entrepreneurship for internationalization, social entrepreneurship, youth entrepreneurship and creativity in the economy;
- Promote social innovation and fight risk aversion, promoting entrepreneurship and autonomy since the basic levels of education;
- Promote “intrapreneurship”;
- Value quality, recognition of merit and accountability as social paradigms.
- Promote innovation funding through adequate financing instruments, with a fair distribution of funds available by initiatives of excellence:
- Promote national and foreign venture capital and development capital;
- Promote context and joint public and private financing offers, suitable for entrepreneurship and innovation;
- Promote optimal use of mechanisms for financing the National Strategic Reference Framework;
- Set measures to answer the constraints that occur at different stages of the innovation and entrepreneurship value chain.
The implementation of the +E+I Strategic Programme in the various ministries will be articulated by the National Council for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, whose mission is to advise the government on related issues and to propose priority sectors and areas under these policies.
References / further information:
- Strategic Programme + E+ I (please see attached file, in Portuguese)
- Council of Ministers’ Resolution to Create the National Council for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (please see attached file, in Portuguese)
- Council of Ministers’ Resolution to Approve the Strategic Programme + E+ I (please see attached file, in Portuguese)
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