The pact to upskill citizens, workers, and businesses

The Digital Skills Pact, approved under Council of Ministers Resolution No. 216/2025, is structured around four strategic pillars and 17 initiatives. It covers everything from basic digital literacy to advanced technological specialisation, including emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, robotics and cloud computing.

This initiative is part of the Portugal Digital Strategy's 2026–2027 Action Plan. It aims to accelerate Portugal’s digital upskilling, promote inclusion and boost the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy.

The starting point

The latest data shows that, although Portugal has made progress in its digital transformation, there is still a clear need to speed up the development of digital skills across the country.

According to the DESI 2025 report:

• 56% of the population aged 16 to 74 have at least basic digital skills;
• Portugal ranks 16th among European Union Member States;
• Only 30% of the population have digital skills above the basic level.

Portugal’s national targets for 2030 include:

• 80% of the population having at least basic digital skills;
• 40% of the population having digital skills above the basic level;
• 30% of women working in the ICT sector;
• 7% of the workforce being employed in specialised technology roles.

In the business sector, 74.3% of Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises had achieved a basic level of digital intensity by 2024, a figure expected to reach 90% by 2030.

ICT specialists currently account for 5.2% of total employment, which is above the European average but still short of Portugal’s national target for the end of the decade.

Four strategic pillars

The Pact is built around the following four strategic pillars:

1. Basic digital skills development;
2. Intermediate and advanced digital skills development;
3. Emerging technology skills;
4. A cross-cutting pillar focused on coordination, monitoring and implementation.

Pillar 1 — Basic digital skills development

This pillar focuses on individuals aged 16 to 74 and involves the design of programmes aimed at building essential digital skills for everyday life, access to digital public services and civic participation. Key measures include:

• The creation of a network of Community Digital Agents;
• Certified digital training programmes;
• Targeted initiatives for people with disabilities;
• Local outreach programmes in low-density regions;
• Mobile digital training units.

These measures will place particular emphasis on citizens aged 45 to 70, especially those living in rural areas and with an education below secondary school level.

The goal of this pillar is to equip approximately 1.9 million people with basic digital skills by 2030.

Pillar 2 — Intermediate and advanced digital skills development

This pillar targets the working population, including employed individuals and jobseekers. Planned programmes include:

• Digital skills assessments;
• Certified learning pathways;
• Financial and logistical support for participation in training;
• Reorganisation of public digital training provision;
• Development of training plans aligned with labour market needs.

The public sector will also benefit from dedicated digital upskilling programmes, including AI acceleration initiatives tailored to public services.

The objective is to upskill more than 800,000 people by 2030 while boosting productivity, innovation and adaptability within the workforce in the context of digital transformation.

Pillar 3 — Emerging technology skills

The third pillar focuses on specialised training in high-demand and emerging technologies. Programmes will cover areas such as:

• Generative artificial intelligence;
• Automation;
• Cybersecurity;
• Data science;
• Robotics;
• Cloud computing.

The target is to train over 100,000 specialists by 2030, with a commitment to ensuring that at least 30% of participants are women.

Pillar 4 — Cross-cutting implementation framework

The Pact includes a set of cross-cutting instruments designed to support implementation at every stage of the learning cycle. Planned measures include:

• A digital maturity assessment tool combined with tailored training plans;
• The reorganisation and consolidation of public training domains into a single central platform;
• The development of micro-credentials;
• A digital learning wallet integrated into the gov.pt app;
• A nationwide partnership network.

The digital learning wallet will securely and interoperably consolidate qualifications, micro-credentials and lifelong learning pathways. Implementation is scheduled for 2027–2028.

Implementation timeline

Implementation of the Pact will begin in the first half of 2026 and continue through to the second half of 2030.

The government departments responsible for State Reform, Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, and Education, Science and Innovation are leading the coordination in partnership with public institutions, businesses, academic organisations, and social sector entities across the country.