Connecting Portugal A program of action in the Portuguese Government TECHNOLOGICAL PLAN: Mobilizing the Information and Knowledge Society Download Full Text Document - PDF

Introduction

The mobilization of the information society, as explicitly expressed in the government’s program, strongly depends on the increase of general access to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), particularly the Internet, with direct impact on the citizens quality of life, safety and work. Along with the encouragement to innovation, and the priority given to the development of human capital, the emphasis put on social and economic appropriation of the ICT is a critical element on the government’s Technological Plan for the development of the Portuguese society.

It is clear today that the levels of well-being, progress and collective wealth and productivity, that characterize more developed countries, are based on social and economic structures of great scientific and technological sophistication, strongly upheld by the most modern Information and Communication Technologies. The adequate use of these technologies, which turned out to be particularly demanding as a consequence of their constant and active evolution, is today as crucial on the social sphere as on the entrepreneurial sector. On education, but also in other domains like health, environment, justice and defense, issues regarding the gathering, processing and analysis of large quantities of data, and the rapid diffusion of the information it contains, should be dealt with the entire arsenal made available by the ICT.

Only in such a way it is possible to detect, in due time, eventual difficulties and to make effective decisions, because such decisions are thus based on correct information.To provide the right information, where and when it is necessary, is one of the most powerful ways to improve and optimize human work, at any level.

No less important is the role of the Information and Communication Technologies, given the present ease and ubiquity in the access to the telecommunication infrastructures, as the foundation for a culture of truth and transparency, of lucid and objective evaluation and of international opening and comparison. These technologies can be and must be instruments of social cohesion, to combat social exclusion, to stimulate the cooperation between public and private institutions and also between citizens, helping to spread knowledge as an ethical, social and economic value. The importance of this development, as a mean to support the free and critical thinking of democratic life, cannot be ignored by societies, like the Portuguese, which seek to reach the highest levels of human accomplishment.

It is this set of values and concerns that justifies and asks for an urgent new political action of intense social mobilization, aimed at the general appropriation of the ICT, and the consequent development of more demanding social and economic networks and of the Information Society in Portugal. The impact of the ICT on the citizen’s quality of life, and on the competitiveness and productivity of national firms seem to demand it.The initiative ConnectingPortugal is the Government’s proposal to face these challenges. It will give life to a new cycle in the mobilization of the Information Society in Portugal, redirecting the scope of State intervention in order to mobilize a social basis of support extended to all citizens.

This initiative is the realization of the plans in the Government’s Program to mobilize the Information Society, and it is directed by a strategy of social mobilization for employment, growth and the economic value of knowledge.

In this context, the modernization of the school environment, providing virtual work environments for students, study texts in digital formats, systems of tutoring by parents and teachers and an organized opening of the schools to the public, namely in the development of national and international projects, is an opportunity that is important to promote and to emphasize, thus assuring the qualification of the Portuguese citizens along the best international practices, and encouraging the involvement of every family in the modernization of Portugal.

The economic importance of the Information Society within the European Union (EU) is equally evident, representing a sector responsible for about 8% of the GDP (gross domestic product) of the EU, which has contributed with 40% to the growth of European productivity and which presently employs 6% of the working population. Reflecting this relevance, the European Commission has launched, recently, the “i2010 – European Information Society for growth and employment” initiative, in order to:

• Enhance the flexibility of the media and telecommunications market,
• Promote investment in research and development necessary to the creation of new knowledge,
• Assure its social appropriation, mobilizing the Information Society in every sector of society.

The initiative ConnectingPortugal also comes as a response to these new challenges presented by the European Commission. It is essential to stimulate the perception of the Portuguese citizens regarding the relevance of the ICT, making easier for them to use computers and the Internet, namely by promoting, wherever necessary, mediators to combat info-exclusion. Furthermore, any future action will have to make the national telecommunications market much more competitive, stimulating competition, leading to a reduction of prices in the telecommunication services and promoting a more sustainable and faster development.

It should be noted that the social appropriation of the information technologies can make the bureaucratic procedures much simpler and lead to administrative simplification, as it facilitates the access to information, the free expression and communication between people and organizations, cooperative networking and the sharing of tasks and knowledge. It can also stimulate, in a decisive manner, professional and educational training and qualification, cultural, scientific and technological development, and the renewal of businesses, innovating and creating new jobs. Its appropriate utilization allows a radical reduction of repetitive and distressing tasks, improving the quality of life. The development of the Information Society is still a very powerful encouragement to the inclusion of ostracized or less favoured social groups and to the cohesion of regions.

ConnectingPortugal is an initiative for the mobilization of a social basis of support extended to all regions, to all citizens, schools, businesses, research centers, associations, in order to develop the Information Society and the knowledge strategies in Portugal. We seek to diversify the public investment, directing it at the consolidation or reinforcement of ongoing initiatives that have a good chance of success, also to fill gaps whenever they are detected, and to promote the innovation and the creation of new businesses in specific areas of strategic development. This process will increase the availability and the use of new services and contents on the internet, crossing all sectors of society, with a strong impact on people, on their quality of life and work, contributing to the development of Portugal.

In this hard period of financial and economic adjustments in our country, the mobilization of the Information Society is, without a doubt, a great challenge to Portugal and calls for the contribution of us all. We need learned and persistent political measures of investment, sustained by demanding evaluation processes, by internationalization and qualification, and by a constant effort to promote the scientific and technological culture.

The priorities of the initiative ConnectingPortugal are the wide-spread of the progresses accomplished in the area of the social use of the ICT in Portugal, namely in the scope of the international comparisons required by the Lisbon strategy, and the independent, regular and transparent evaluation of the information systems of public services and administration.

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