We meet Luís Miguel Da Silva, Senior Project Manager at TICE.PT, Portugal’s Cluster for Information, Communication and Electronics Technologies. The organisation fosters digital innovation and collaboration among the region’s key stakeholders, with the aim of strengthening innovation and technological sovereignty at both local and international level.
Could you briefly introduce yourself and your role at Tice.pt?
Luís Miguel Da Silva: I have more than 30 years of experience in the telecommunications sector. From 2003 to 2019, I was responsible for Research & Development and Collaborative R&D at PT Inovação, later Altice Labs, where I led innovation initiatives and collaborative projects with industry and research partners. Since 2019, I have been working as a Senior Project Manager at TICE.PT, supporting European and national innovation projects and fostering collaboration between companies, research organisations and technology clusters.
Could you describe Tice.pt (mission, areas of expertise, partners & ecosystem, types of actions)?
Luís Miguel Da Silva: TICE.PT, Pólo de Competitividade das Tecnologias de Informação, Comunicação e Eletrónica (Competitiveness Cluster for Information, Communication and Electronic Technologies), is the leading Portuguese cluster for the digital technologies, communications, electronics and semiconductors sectors. Recognised as a national Competitiveness Cluster in 2009, it brings together companies, universities, research centres, collaborative laboratories, business associations and public bodies.
Its mission is to promote innovation and internationalisation amongst Portuguese companies in this industrial sector:
- By acting as a coordination platform that engages and mobilises the key players in the ICT sector in the processes of research, innovation and technological development, knowledge transfer, advanced training, and the development, production and marketing of products and services;
- By serving as a strategic instrument of industrial policy, promoting the achievement of national challenges and objectives, particularly in the digitalisation and decarbonisation of industry.
TICE.PT operates within a collaborative ecosystem that brings together large companies, SMEs, start-ups, universities, polytechnic institutes, technology centres and public bodies. For its members, TICE.PT develops an integrated set of high value-added initiatives, including the facilitation of consortia for national and European R&D programmes, support for internationalisation, the organisation of workshops, conferences and networking events, the dissemination of knowledge and technological trends, as well as the representation of the sector’s interests before national and European bodies.
In what ways does Tice.pt contribute to strengthening the competitiveness and innovation of companies in the regions of Braga, Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon among themselves and on the European stage?
Luís Miguel Da Silva: TICE.PT strengthens the competitiveness and innovative capacity of businesses in the regions of Braga, Porto, Aveiro and Lisbon, where a significant part of the national ecosystem for digital technologies, electronics and semiconductors is concentrated. As a platform for collaboration between businesses, universities and research centres, it promotes collaborative innovation, knowledge transfer and access to funding and international networks, accelerating the development of high value-added products and services.
In line with the priorities of European industrial policy, the cluster drives projects in the areas of data spaces and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, semiconductors, advanced computing and connectivity, supporting companies’ participation in national and European R&D and innovation initiatives. At the same time, through coordination and participation in networks such as the Gaia-X Hub Portugal, the IDSA Competence Centre Portugal and the Silicon Europe Alliance, it facilitates the integration of Portuguese companies into European value chains.
In this way, TICE.PT contributes to the realisation of the European Union’s priorities regarding competitiveness, technological sovereignty and innovation, strengthening the capacity of Portuguese companies to compete in international markets and establishing Portugal as a key partner in European technology ecosystems.
Why did AKTANTIS and Tice.pt come together? Why is it essential to build this type of collaboration? What actions have we shared?
Luís Miguel Da Silva: Formal cooperation between TICE.PT and AKTANTIS developed within the framework of the European network of electronics and semiconductor clusters, following TICE. PT joined the Silicon Europe Alliance, where AKTANTIS and TICE.PT are joining forces with 12 other European clusters to strengthen Europe’s technological competitiveness by linking complementary innovation ecosystems in semiconductors, photonics, AI and digital technologies. This collaboration creates opportunities for joint R&D, the internationalisation of SMEs and participation in European value chains.
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