I write as a Portuguese, as a professional who closely follows the economic and technological transformation of the country, and as someone deeply convinced that promoting Portugal is a civic duty of all of us. Whenever the country takes the right steps, we have a responsibility to recognize them, to explain them and to encourage everyone to follow that path.
And this is exactly what I feel when I carefully analyze the new Action Plan 2026–2027 of the National Digital Strategy.
After everything I have been writing in recent years about technology, innovation, investment and competitiveness, this plan does not come as a surprise. It comes as confirmation: Portugal has definitely stopped discussing whether it wants to be digital. He is now structuring himself to lead.
The planned investment, around one billion euros, adding the National Digital Strategy, the National Artificial Intelligence Agenda and the Pact for Digital Skills, is not just one line in a budget. It is a strategic decision. A clear commitment to the country’s economic future, productivity, value creation, and the ability to attract investment and international talent.
The vision is simple and powerful: a more prosperous, innovative, and inclusive Portugal, which uses digital technologies to improve people’s lives, strengthen the competitiveness of companies and strengthen the sovereignty of the State. And this vision is based on four fundamental pillars: people, companies, the State, and infrastructure.
The targets for 2030 are objective: 80 percent of the population with basic digital skills, 90 percent of SMEs with minimum digital intensity, 75 percent of companies using cloud and artificial intelligence, full coverage of the territory with 5G and all public services available in digital format. It is not speech. It is structural transformation.
In Public Administration, the change is profound. The State now assumes itself as a true digital architect: migration to the cloud, strengthening cybersecurity, creation of an agency dedicated to technological reform and legislation prepared for the digital world. This creates a more efficient, safer, and much more attractive environment for citizens and investors.
In the economy, the signal is equally clear. Portugal invests in data centers, sovereign cloud, 5G, digital transformation of SMEs, support for entrepreneurship and emerging technologies. At the same time, it builds a simple, pro-innovation regulatory environment in line with the speed of the technological world.
None of this works without people. Therefore, the Pact for Digital Skills and programs such as Girls in STEM are absolutely central. Without talent, there is no transition. Without training, there is no competitiveness.
And finally, artificial intelligence is no longer a promise and becomes a structured public policy, transversal to education, the economy, and the State itself.
If this plan is executed with the ambition that the document reveals, Portugal will not only be following digital Europe. You will be helping to design your future.
And that is exactly why I write. Not for politics. But for Portugal.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed on this page are those of the author and not of The Portugal News.