Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

To start with, my thanks are due to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, for his initiative in choosing Portugal as the venue for this high level Conference on the role of science in Europe’s future.

I also take this opportunity to greet the distinguished participants and, in particular, the members of President Barroso’s Advisory Committee for Science and Technology, whose most recent report inspired the working structure of this Conference.

Knowledge, technology and innovation are powerful forces of change and generators of progress in economies and in societies. For many years the Commission has not wasted any efforts to develop and project its views on this issue, supported anyway by the European Parliament, whose role I must underscore, as well as, please allow me, refer the action developed in this area by Professor Maria da Graça Carvalho.

The Horizon 2020 Programme, with the approximately 80,000 million euros it has available, is a clear expression of the commitment of the European Union with science and innovation and in its investment in the immense transforming potential of knowledge.

Science is more than an instrument for the improvement of social welfare, or a factor of innovation. Science is today, in an environment marked by globalization and by intense competition between nations and worldwide regions, has become a critical component in growth and competitiveness, assuming an undeniable geopolitical reach.

The battle for science is thus a battle for the future of Europe and for the quality of living of European citizens. By the ongoing advanced medical care, which has become possible due to the conquests of science, by the competitiveness of European exports, based on products containing high levels of knowledge and technology, by product innovation, the services, the processes and even the productive and social organization, which have turned our societies into evolved societies.

But this battle is far from having been won. If we measure the capacity to generate innovation, we ascertain that, even in Europe, the leading country, Switzerland, is not a member of the Union. Also Japan, the United States and South Korea, continue leading Europe in the matter of innovation.

The appointment of a Portuguese, Eng. Carlos Moedas, as Commissioner responsible for the Research, Science and Innovation brief, breeds in us the expectation and the hope that the European battle for science will proceed with renewed impetus, and also that Portugal and its scientific, academic and entrepreneurial communities will more than ever be positioned to intervene in this battle front.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As shown in the European Innovation Index, already published this year by the European Commission, Portugal is advancing at a higher rate than that of the European average in the innovation process factors. A positive course, marked, above all, by progress in the science and research indicators which, although a reason for pride, are, to our mind, far from satisfactory.

In effect, we are relatively good at producing science, but we are not yet as good in transforming science into innovation. This is where the great challenge is, and this is where we must concentrate the major part of our efforts, because I am certain that we are able to succeed.

It is true that all did not run well on the course carried out by Portugal in pursuit of science. To start with, the private sector did not accompany, with like measures, the public sector in the investment effort that required being carried out. Companies, including the larger companies, were well short of what would be recommendable in terms of financing research and development, which did not allow scientific knowledge to be disseminated, as far as was required, beyond the walls of the academy, that is, to the whole of Portuguese society.

Without prejudice to the need of achieving a better balance between public and private investment, we must be more ambitious in what concerns efficiency and experience of our scientific system and its international competitiveness.

Also with a view to improve our competitiveness in the field of science, research units must gain greater size, becoming organized and cooperating more intensely at national level to be able to better compete at European level.

We must learn how to gain better advantages from the possibilities of direct access to International and European funds designed for research and development, as is the case, in particular, of the Horizon 2020 Programme, in order that that the less positive experience with the 7th Framework Programme is not repeated amongst us, in which only in the last two years were we able to show capacity and dynamics in capturing financing.

We have, at the same time, an important path to cover in the approach between the university and scientific institutions and our social and economic structures, in the valuing of the knowledge and technology produced in the universities, and in the design of incentives intended to increase the volume of partnerships between the universities, their research centres, and the companies.

It is somewhat revealing that, in Portugal, less than 5% of PhD graduates work in the economy, in companies, when in Belgium, Holland or Denmark these figures are in excess of 33%.

The purpose is not for universities to become companies, nor that companies become universities, but that the walls of ignorance between them come down and that an atmosphere is generated that propitiates interactive relations and even more informal relations between companies and universities. This atmosphere, which is an integral part of a real culture of innovation, and which I was able to ascertain, for instance, when I visited Helsinki, is still lacking in Portugal.

Continuing with the universities, it is necessary to train more technicians and not limit ourselves to the training of scientists. If we take a look, for instance, at the field of sciences of the sea, which are of great interest for Portugal, we find that the number of scientists, relative to the number of technicians that assist them in the operation of vehicles, boats, machinery and other technological equipment, is much larger than the average in the more innovative European countries in the domain of knowledge and technologies of the sea.

Without placing at issue basic research, which is vital, it is necessary to better understand the comparative advantages of the Portuguese and the national interest in itself, in order to combine these with the priority areas of scientific development. If we want to take it all in hand, we may have science, but this science will hardly achieve worldwide excellence. We must thus learn how to define priorities and to develop the predominant scientific areas.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After many decades of the 20th century during which it was practically removed from Portuguese society, Portugal commenced opening up to science and, in the last few years, we have trod a notable path of approach to the more evolved countries in this matter. However, science still is, to a large measure, confined within the walls of laboratories and of the libraries of our universities.

We will have to fight in order to overcome, in the next few years, the status of “moderate innovators”, if we want to reconcile the objectives of sustainable economic growth and job creation with the requisites of budgetary and financial discipline.

Because I am well aware of the immense talent that we have available in Portugal, as well as the potential of our human resources, I believe that the Country’s most important investment lies in the coherent and structured approach to the innovation process.

Only thus will we be able to take advantage of scientific knowledge, not just for the indispensable renewal of the value grade of our productive fabric, but also for the progress of society as a whole.

Because this is exactly the point: if we invest in innovation, we must invest in our scientists and value them, in order that they feel comfortable in our Country. But we do not forget the Portuguese scientists that carry out research abroad, honouring the name of our Country and contributing towards the progress of science in Europe and Worldwide.

If we invest in innovation, we accelerate the step of recovery and modernization of the Portuguese economy, leading towards its repositioning in more advanced and competitive scientific and technological platforms.

All of us – companies, universities, public powers and society in general – must continue placing knowledge and innovation at the apex of individual and collective priorities. This is, in effect, an unavoidable path towards the growth of the economy, for the sustainability of public finance itself and for the levels of social cohesion and welfare that we aspire.

This is the path on which are based our hope and our trust in the future.

Thank you very much for your heed.