After setting up the Agência para a Investigação e Inovação (AI²), the government has shared the approach they will use to decide on the country's research and innovation goals. At the same time, a new website called AI² Participa has been launched to gather input from the scientific and innovation communities.
The AI² is being created through the merger of the Agência Nacional de Inovação and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), and this process is still happening right now.
The reform has caused a lot of debate, especially because FCT is no longer an independent organization. University leaders and scientists have expressed worries about how changes might affect the amount of research done and the long-term prospects for basic scientific studies. One of the main criticisms was that there was not enough early discussion with people from the scientific and innovation communities. In reply, the government said in November that it would listen to different groups and get their views.
The new platform now lets people give their input on several important areas:
- Strategic orientation of the new agency
- Allocation of R&D funding
- Definition of priority strategic domains
- The role of the Innovation Promotion Unit (UPI)
- The content of the future program agreement between the Government and AI².
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