Information Technology landscape in PORTUGAL

Global Information Infrastructure (GII) Plans

In the beginning of 1996, the Portuguese government launched its National Initiative for the Information Society^15a as a cross-ministry initiative, co-ordinated by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Key strategies from the Initiative were incorporated into the government's presentation of the State Budget for 1997, which included awareness and recognition in the following areas:

• computers and electronic networks need to be made available in public places, schools, libraries, municipal halls, etc. in order to ensure the widest access to information and knowledge.
• an efficient, competitive and accessible National Information Infrastructure is vital to promote the growth of a strong information industry. Regulatory frameworks need to facilitate competition so that few barriers exist for network operators, service companies and information brokers to provide Universal Services at fair prices anywhere in the country.
• health services need to be equipped with information and telecommunications technologies to improve quality of service and to reduce costs by eliminating duplications and inefficiencies in the management of the health system.
• historical archives and information related to cultural heritage need to be digitized and migrated to a network of public and university digital libraries. Internet and satellite communication means should be exploited to promote contact and exchanges with The Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries and the Portuguese migrant communities world-wide.
• "informed schools" need to be established via telematics networks. By the year 2000 all primary and secondary schools should have at least a multimedia PC in each classroom, linked to a local area network, and from there to national and international telematic networks.
• information and telecommunication technologies should be used to support the effort  of increasing the competitiveness of Portuguese companies; in particular, IT and electronics companies should position themselves in market niches that may make them competitive globally.
• legal frameworks will need to support electronic commerce and training initiatives will be necessary in the area of teleworking.

Government Focus on IT initiatives

Some of the more important and prominent efforts sponsored by the Portuguese government's various ministries to expand and promote the development and usage of IT include:¹⁷
 

• Projecto Fetiche - uses telematics technology in the initial teacher training process to encourage and foster an understanding and incorporation of the technology into the practical learning environment. It involves a number of schools, including three of the most well recognized higher learning institutions.
• The MINERVA Project - is a national initiative to introduce new information technologies in primary and secondary education. The project has some distinctive characteristics, most especially, the close relationship it has forged between higher and lower education. Its main foci are on training teachers and trainers, educational project based work, educational research and electronic service provision.
• NONIO Program - is a Ministry of Education program that has signed a collaborative agreement with the Association for the Production of Multimedia (PT.SIG.MM) in order to promote the multimedia industry in Portugal.
• The Portuguese Academic Network (RCCN) - is owned by a foundation of Portuguese state universities, Portugal Telecom and the Ministry of Science and Technology for the collective purpose of enlarging Portugal's academic networks. RCCN is also a partner in a major European initiative to interconnect national academic networks to a European backbone at 34 Mbits.
• The MOSAIC Initiative - is a Ministry of Culture program to improve access to culture by developing the multimedia industry. Its aims are to support quality aspects in multimedia production, promote and market distribution circuits for multimedia, establish an infrastructure to disseminate digital cultural information (the MOSAICO Network,) and promote research and development. Please refer to "IT Geographics" for specific R&D projects sponsored by MOSAIC.

• Open and Distance Learning (ODL) and Advanced Learning Technology (ALT) - numerous EU and national sectorial programs focus on ODL and ALT training. EU sponsored programs in which Portugal participates include DELTA, ORA, EUROFORM, COMETT, FORCE, EUROTECNET and LINGUA. Portuguese programs include PEDIP, PROAGRI, and PRODEP. These programs emphasize commercial and public applications for ODL and ALT, including: IT in the construction industry, CAD-CAM training in the textile industry, advanced systems for SMEs, CBT for electric engineers, open courses on Marketing Distribution of IT for executives, multimedia applied to professional training, ODL for construction materials employees, and multimedia teletraining networks.
• EXPO '98 - is a national exposition that Portugal is hosting and which will attract visitors from around the world. It is similar to a World's Fair, but its focus is particularly on oceanography and environmental conservation efforts for the world's oceans, given Portugal's history as a sea-faring nation. It will occur in the summer of 1998 and has been a large-scale and very high-profile regeneration of an area to the north of Lisbon. It will incorporate high-bandwidth communications facilities and a host of high-technology educational facilities and resources. Portugal views the Expo as a major opportunity to implement and experiment with advanced telecommunications infrastructures and services. Once the Expo is over, the government hopes to convert the facilities into private sector businesses and homes, but recent press has publicized that its efforts in leasing/selling the real estate have not been as fruitful as one would hope.¹⁸