Available funding in Portugal

Background information

Funding opportunities for upskilling and reskilling to support the digital competences of individuals and organizations are available in the form of loans, grants, and financial instruments. For the period 2021 – 2026, most of the activities in digital transformation are financed through Recovery and Resilience facility but also as activities in Horizon, Erasmus+, ESIF and EEA grant schemes. You may find more on the page of the Portugal’s Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition.

Recovery and Resilience Plan

Portugal’s Recovery and Resilience Plan consists of 83 investments and 32 reforms, supported by €13.9 billion in grants and €2.7 billion in loans. 38% of the plan will support climate objectives and 22% of the plan will foster the digital transition. Through RRP, significant investments and reforms are being implemented to facilitate the digital transformation. These efforts are focused on enhancing skills, digitalizing education and businesses, and modernizing the public sector, including general public administration, healthcare, the justice system, and tax administration.

Portugal faces digital challenges that require investments in the digital transition, specifically in the advancement of digital skills at both basic and advanced levels. Regarding qualifications and skills, RRP aims at updating the range of courses and qualifications available for vocational education, training, and lifelong learning programs. To support this reform, investments of €666 million are allocated for the modernization of vocational education and training institutions. In the area of digital health there are investments of €300 million to modernise the computer systems of the National Health Service and increase the digitalisation of medical records. The business sector digitalisation benefits from €650 million which provides support to small and medium enterprises and their employees through tailored digital skill training, coaching, and assistance in adopting digital technologies. These reforms and investments also contribute to creating a secure digital environment for the societal and business digital transition. You may find open calls on dedicated RRP website.

As an example, ‘Academia Portugal Digital’ (‘Digital Academy’) project will offer tailored training to the Portuguese workforce, to foster the development of digital skills, as well as to improve the competitiveness, resilience and create new employment opportunities. In total, 800,000 participants will go through a personalized assessment to identify their specific digital skills requirements. They will then receive targeted digital skills training through a combination of online, blended, and in-person training. Additionally, a subgroup of 200,000 participants will receive more comprehensive digital skills training that focuses on addressing specific challenges within economic sectors.

National Funding

Applications for the investment projects Avisos dos Sistemas de Incentivos do Portugal 2030 are open until 15 December 2023. This investment aims to support the productive innovation of micro-enterprises and SMEs in Portugal. Applications must present an eligible investment between 250 thousand euros and 25 million euros and be part of one of the four types of actions: the creation of a new establishment, the increase in the capacity of an existing establishment, the diversification of the production of an establishment for products not previously produced or the fundamental alteration of the overall production process of an existing establishment.

Different funding options are also available on the Digital Skills and Jobs platform, you may find a listing for Portugal on this link.