Creating Value 2022-2026
“Portugal Agora” presents its “Creating Value 2022–2026” agenda to contribute to a strategic debate aligned with the upcoming government term. The document, which is being presented to political parties during these weeks of campaigning, outlines priorities and initiatives with a focus on creating value.
“Creating Value 2022–2026” aims to facilitate the transition from strategy to action—by generating concrete proposals for public policies or civil society initiatives—and is not intended to be a comprehensive and exhaustive government program, but rather a vision that will be promoted and shared with relevant entities, particularly political parties, and the general public.
The platform’s presentations and discussions with political parties during these weeks of campaigning demonstrate its desire to influence policy-making in Portugal, based on a approach aimed at facilitating consensus and managing the resources and conditions necessary for its implementation. Alignment with the government’s policy cycle is the foundation for long-term development.
The proposal for this four-year period is based on the four dimensions of the project (“Attractive Portugal,” “Knowledge-Based Portugal,” “Entrepreneurial Portugal,” and “Resilient Portugal”), with various proposals for each, which reinforce one another and capitalize on Portugal’s competitive advantages, in the context of a globalized world.
The first emphasizes the need to streamline investment, innovation, and entrepreneurship processes, combined with infrastructure development and the empowerment of the diaspora, in order to attract professional talent, students, and migrants. At its core is the promotion of Portugal through an integrated “brand” strategy.
In the area of Knowledge, the agenda’s proposals are grounded in a culture of discovery, learning, and innovation and range from a reimagined education system—featuring social skills and experiential methodologies—to professional retraining for the digital economy. Other topics include refocusing the scientific and technological system—with comprehensive instruction in the fundamentals of artificial intelligence—as well as autonomy and multi-year funding for higher education.
Citizenship and Democracy
The “Creating Value 2022–2026” initiative addresses the entrepreneurial dimension with proposals for new products, new technologies, and new management processes, to be developed through a legislative framework for labor that promotes competitiveness and a high-impact national framework for entrepreneurship. Innovation platforms for the circular economy, national programs for active aging and senior entrepreneurship, “urban farming,” and digital citizenship are some of the other initiatives.
The “Resilient Portugal” initiative is based on ensuring the essential conditions for life in society, and its proposals include widespread cybersecurity education, a national “Sustainable Urban Heating” program, the creation of agile, data-driven public governance, and the establishment of a digital health cluster in Portugal. Logistical resilience and the resilience of democracy, along with their respective national strategies, are also key themes.
“We believe that a strategic vision based on these four dimensions makes the path forward clearer for the Portugal we want to see in the coming years, and that the proposals outlined above will be solid steps along that path.”says the chairman of the board of "Portugal Agora".
“And we hope they will serve as an inspiration to those who can implement them—whether governments, companies, foundations, universities, schools, or local governments—often in partnership, in a spirit of collaboration and ‘teamwork’ that we must increasingly promote in Portugal.”, argues Carlos Sezões.
In addition to Carlos Sezões, CEO of Darefy, the current leadership of “Portugal Agora” includes Miguel Leocádio (Axians) as vice president and a team of six board members: Rita Oliveira Pelica (OnYou); André Ribeiro Pires (Multipessoal); Leonor Pipa (Link to Leaders); Carlos Sá Carneiro (aicep Portugal Global); Ana Rita Pereira (Microsoft); Miguel Marques Paulo (Siemens); Inês Silva (Euroconsumers).
About Portugal Agora:
The “Portugal Agora” project aims to create a vision—broken down into strategic models for the country—for the coming decades. This will be achieved through a pluralistic forum for discussion, held over a defined period, with the aim of identifying areas of potential convergence that can be translated into priorities upon which Portugal can build its development. The project has strategic implications
– Attractiveness, Knowledge, Entrepreneurship – for Portugal, and he wants to link them to implementation and action.