The ANI - Agência Nacional de Inovação, SA, aims to develop actions to support technological and business innovation in Portugal, contributing to the consolidation of the National Innovation System (NIS) and to strengthening the competitiveness of the national economy in global markets.

It is incumbent upon the ANI to pursue the guidelines for a technological and business innovation strategy for Portugal, 2018-2030 (in accordance with RCM 25/2018), namely stimulating private investment in research and development (R&D), promoting collaboration between entities of the scientific and technological system and the business environment, and strengthening the participation in international programmes by the companies and entities of the national scientific and technological system, namely Higher Education Institutions and Interface Centres, with a view to promoting their skills, competences and results of the innovation support policy.

It is also incumbent on the ANI to disseminate, at national and international level, in collaboration with other entities, namely IAPMEI, AICEP and STF, innovation success stories in Portugal, helping to associate Portugal with the image of an innovative country and justify increasing investments, through return to the economy and to the well-being and quality of life of the population.

The pursuit of the ANI's mission will be articulated with other public policy objectives such as priorities for the next cycle of Structural Funds, the National Investment Programme 2020-2030, the National Reform Programme and the National Programme for Spatial Planning Policy, as well as the priorities and objectives associated with Portugal's participation in R&D support programmes within the European framework.

Contribute to positioning Portugal in the group of highly innovative European Union countries by the end of the next decade.

R&D and innovation are fundamental to the long-term development of societies. The approval of the technological and business innovation strategy for Portugal 2018-2030 (RCM 25/2018) shows the government's commitment to using innovation as the engine of the country's economic growth, stimulating higher levels of productivity, more qualified employment and promoting higher levels of quality of life in Portugal. The targets set in this strategy for private R&D investment (1.8% of GDP by 2020 and 3% by 2030, tended to be 2/3 by companies) and for the creation of qualified employment (25,000 new jobs in science and technology companies, until 2030) are the challenges for which the ANI has to be prepared, through an adequate and qualified internal organisation and the definition of ambitious and mobilising objectives in terms of action.

The ANI should contribute to the achievement of these commitments, being aware of the nature of the problems and challenges that they face to enhance national capacity for innovation. Portugal's progress over the past decade in the international innovation rakings shows the effort of public and private investment in science, R&D and innovation activities, and today Portugal has excellent scientific and technological infrastructures worldwide, a favourable framework for technology-based entrepreneurship with a strong connection to the scientific and higher education system, as well as companies and startups that compete globally.

In spite of this significant progress, Portugal still stands as a “moderately innovative” country in the context of the European Union (EU), as aspects to reinforce the promotion mechanisms of R&D and collaborative innovation, transfer and valuing technology, as well as greater integration of NIS companies and entities in global knowledge and innovation networks have been identified.

The response to these challenges requires a new generation National Innovation Agency, which contributes to making Portugal an attractive country for innovation, but also to invest and develop a life project where new products, services or solutions that respond to societal problems are developed. This entails action and tools at ANI's disposal that are appropriate for the requirements of - increasingly global- innovation processes that streamline and promote funding, valuing and the international promotion of R&D and innovation:

• Working closely with the NIS players, especially the companies and interface centres, promoting the dynamics of Open Innovation, sharing knowledge, transferring technology and placing value on knowledge and intellectual property. The ANI should also actively support companies and other national institutions in accessing international training and funding programmes for R&D and innovation, functioning as a Skills Centre recognised by the national community in these themes;

• A mix of tools policy, which will simplify procedures related to R&D and innovation funding and to the increase in their success rates[1], by adopting international evaluation as a criterion for excellence in access to funding, the development of support mechanisms for technology-based innovation, the use of “diplomacy for innovation”, promoting the NIS's competencies in international markets and the attraction of qualified investment in innovation, as well as the adoption of the NIS’s evaluation methodologies, intelligence in innovation and the creation of evidence regarding the impact of innovation policies.

For a new generation ANI, the governance mechanisms of innovation policy, as well as all the human and financial resources appropriate for the fulfilment of its mission and objectives must be consolidated, in accordance with the provisions of RCM 25/2018. This will be essential if Portugal is to exceed the EU average in terms of innovation capacity, positioning itself in the group of highly innovative countries by the end of the next decade.

[1]In particular, by increasing the rates of implementation of financial incentives for R&D and technology transfer in Portugal 2020.