Portugal - National Artificial Intelligence Agenda

Portugal’s National Artificial Intelligence Agenda (Agenda Nacional de Inteligência Artificial — ANIA) was launched in January 2026 by the Government of Portugal. Approved by the Council of Ministers Resolution No. 2/2026, the National AI Agenda is Portugal's main policy instrument for Artificial Intelligence and forms part of Action No. 20 of the National Digital Strategy 2030 (Estratégia Digital Nacional — EDN) Action Plan 2026–2027.

The primary objective of ANIA is to leverage AI as a key driver of economic competitiveness and public value, positioning Portugal alongside the European vanguard while ensuring that technological adoption directly enhances productivity, public services, and citizens' quality of life. The strategy is aligned with the European Union's AI Continent Action Plan and the Apply AI strategy.

The Six Guiding Principles

ANIA is grounded in six foundational principles:

• Responsible Innovation: Prioritizing ethical, safe, transparent, and trustworthy AI development and usage beyond mere regulatory compliance.

• Focus on Strategic Investments: Concentrating resources on high-potential priority areas to maximize economic and societal returns.

• The State as a Catalyst: Public administration leading by example, using AI to modernize public management and streamline administrative processes.

• More Than Technology: Recognizing that 70% of AI success depends on organizational culture, skills, and people, rather than technology alone.

• Product-Oriented AI: Focusing on concrete, useful, and scalable use cases designed to solve real-world problems with measurable impact.

• Building on Proven Success & Continuous Evaluation: Scaling effective solutions while continuously measuring impact and adapting policies.

The Four Strategic Pillars and Operational Initiatives

Operationalized through 32 targeted initiatives, ANIA covers four strategic axes involving universities, research centers, businesses, startups, and public entities:

INFRASTRUCTURE AND DATA

Aims to expand national supercomputing capacity and establish a robust, interoperable data economy to ensure technological sovereignty.

• Advanced Computing & AI Factory: Expanding supercomputing infrastructure (such as Deucalion) and aligning with EuroHPC network resources.
• National AI Gigafactory: Attracting industrial-scale compute capacity to lower external dependencies.
• Sectoral Data Spaces: Establishing secure data spaces in healthcare, education, industry, and public administration.
• National Data Center Plan: Setting up pre-approved zones and streamlined licensing for data center deployment.

INNOVATION AND ADOPTION

Focuses on accelerating AI deployment across SMEs and public administration while bridging the gap between fundamental research and commercial products.

• AI Adoption in SMEs: Expanding financial vehicles (via BPF and IAPMEI) and deploying the PME.IA national low-code/no-code AI solution platform.

• AI Excellence Center in Public Administration: Testing, deploying, and scaling AI tools for core public services, healthcare, justice, and defense.

• Sectoral AI Centers: Reorganizing collaborative networks (DIHs, CoLabs) into dedicated AI Experience Centers focused on high-TRL product creation.

• Public Procurement & AMALIA: Guidelines for innovation procurement and scaling national AI models (e.g., project AMALIA).

TALENT AND SKILLS

Prepares the workforce for AI-driven transformation, given that up to 1.3 million jobs will require upskilling by 2030.

• AI Fast Track Visa: An expedited visa pathway managed by AIMA to attract top foreign AI talent and researchers.

• National Intelligent Skills Framework (QNCI): AI-driven taxonomy mapping skill gaps and aligning educational supply with labor market demand.

• Public Sector Upskilling: Accelerated AI training for civil servants and organizational leaders.

• National AI Awareness: Launching the "Geração IA" campaign, National AI Week, and public literacy initiatives focused on safe and responsible usage.

RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS

Establishes a balanced regulatory environment that protects citizens while incentivizing ethical business innovation.

• EU AI Act Implementation: Designating national competent authorities, defining governance models, and creating compliance tools for high-risk AI.

• Regulatory Sandboxes: Expanding controlled testing environments to allow safe, legally compliant AI experimentation.

• Center for Responsible AI & Research: Supporting interdisciplinary research on ethics, social impact, and AI quality management standards.

• Tech Diplomacy: Active participation in EU and global standard-setting forums.

The agenda aims to position Portugal among Europe's leading countries in trustworthy and competitive AI while generating tangible benefits for citizens, businesses, and public services.