The Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) is the Portuguese public agency with the mission of coordinating the policies for the Information Society and mobilizing it through dissemination, qualification and research activities. It was created in January 2005, as a public institute with administrative and financial autonomy which succeeded to the Mission Unit for Innovation and Knowledge formerly operating, since November 2002, within the Ministers Council Presidency.
The Knowledge Society Agency operates within the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and had its first Board of Directors nominated at the end of July 2005, with Luis Magalhães as President.
The Knowledge Society Agency mission has presently a reinforced relevance since the Portuguese Government Program for 2005-2009 established a Technological Plan as the keystone of the Government’s economic policy. This plan consists on a set of related policies and transversal measures guided by a vision of transforming Portugal into a modern knowledge society. The intentions of this plan are:
- To mobilize Portugal for the information society;
- To provide a new stimulus to entrepreneurial innovation;
- To promote scientific and technological development;
- To qualify human resources.
Besides, at the end of July 2005 the Government launched the Connecting Portugal program, as a plan of action for implementing the part of the Technological Plan for the information society.
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