Thematic Agendas

The Thematic Agendas for Research and Innovation aim to mobilise experts from R&D institutions and companies in the identification of challenges and opportunities within the national scientific and technological system, namely in the medium and long term perspective. It is expected that the agendas may also contribute to the development of research and innovation, contributing to the response to problems or needs of different sectors of society.

The process - inclusive and dynamic - of developing the agendas, involving experts from academia, research centers, companies, public entities and citizens, in a framework of dialogue between different national actors, allows us to specify the areas that are characterized as emerging and promising for Portuguese Research and Innovation, in a medium and long term perspective, until 2030.

The elaboration of the thematic agendas has as main objectives to promote collective reflection on the knowledge base supporting the scientific, technological, and socio-economic development of the country on the themes in question.

The main objectives of the thematic agendas are:

• The promotion of dialogue between the scientific and business communities, combining the capacities and needs of researchers, citizens, companies, the Public Administration, and civil society organizations;
• The constitution of a medium and long term vision of the Portuguese research and innovation system, as well as the most promising R&I lines to achieve this vision in each of the thematic areas;
• The contribution to the construction of information sources capable of inspiring and sustaining decision-making processes, namely regarding R&I internationalization strategies, as well as the research agendas of institutions and their researchers.

The process of developing thematic agendas for R&I favors an inclusive and bottom-up approach, based on the involvement of the scientific, technological and business communities, and other entities. This process is inspired by international practices of creating strategic and mobilizing agendas for research and innovation.

Each Agenda was developed by groups of experts with representatives from the scientific and business communities. The constitution of the expert groups was based on invitations sent to heads of R&D units and companies to nominate experts, as well as direct invitations from FCT to experts seeking to accommodate the different valences of the theme.

Although the FCT provides the technical and logistical support necessary for the work, including the proposal of the structure of contents, the expert groups have the main responsibility for the production of the contents of each agenda. The internal thematic structure of each agenda is defined by the expert groups, which, at the same time, choose the experts who will take on the responsibilities of rapporteur and coordinator.

This innovative and dynamic process aims to stimulate the exchange of ideas between the scientific and business communities in a continuous dialogue to build a shared agenda.

A public consultation was also promoted to the community, about the main issues to be developed, and there was also a consultation with Public Administration bodies through a specific questionnaire.