Portugal is represented by two organisations within the HELIUM project, the University of Porto and ANI – the Portuguese National Innovation Agency. Together they have set out to improve the healthcare innovation landscape in the Norte region by tackling the Regional Operational Programme Norte 2020.
ANI is a public agency fostering science-industry cooperation, promoting the economic valorisation of R&D results, and supporting internationalisation of technology based companies. ANI manages a set of funding programmes and coordinates the national S3. It cooperates with clusters, science parks, incubators, technology centres, acts as an interface between business and academia, is a member of Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) representing Portugal in the Healthcare Sector Group, and advises government in R&D&I policies.
The University of Porto, or U. Porto, s the 2nd largest university in Portugal and the largest producer of science. It hosts 50 research centres and 6 competencies also covering the fields of health and life sciences. U. Porto aims to increase the economic value of its scientific results through university-industry relations. U. Porto’s innovation department works with a wide network at national and international level to improve collaboration among researchers, companies and the general society, and offers them a wide range of services.
The health sector has experienced a remarkable evolution during the last decades in Portugal. Portuguese companies are internationally recognised as high-quality suppliers of healthcare products and services being capable to develop, manufacture and supply a wide range of products and services with high flexibility. Pharmaceutical and medical device industries have grown above the country’s average in recent years, with a marked rise in exports.
The Norte region shows a critical mass of resources and assets to boost knowledge and innovation excellence in health, aiming to set up a health economy based on a variety of innovative products and services, replying to international needs, reinforcing the potential shown at national level. Linking R&D, healthcare and information management is identified as a driver for these ambitions.
