idD Portugal Defence and the Consortium of Engineering Schools signed this Monday a memorandum of understanding to promote a greater link between universities, research centres and companies in the Defence Economy, like the Aeronautics, Space and Defense industries, with the objective of strengthening the country’s strategic autonomy and boosting economic growth, qualified employment and exports.
The first project resulting from this memorandum is the Academia do Arsenal, which will also include the involvement of Arsenal do Alfeite and the Naval Industries Association, through a protocol also signed this Monday.
This new center of excellence rises from the training school that operated for decades in Arsenal do Alfeite, now serving the entire naval cluster with the development of training and education programs in the field of engineering, aimed at strengthening knowledge and technical/scientific skills.
The Academia do Arsenal aims to develop a set of programs to promote the competitiveness of the naval cluster through the following actions:
- Qualification of marine industry professionals
- Attraction and retention of senior workers, namely at the bachelor’s and master’s level
- Promotion of innovation in the naval cluster by strengthening the connections between the industry and the academia
The Academia do Arsenal is an initiative that will contribute to the fulfilment of the objective of the Sea Component of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, through the creation of jobs associated with training and acquisition of skills, attraction of new companies and creation of new technological development hubs.
The first courses at Academia do Arsenal will be launched soon, along with the necessary adaptation works.
In 2023, the Innovation and Experimentation Centre should be in operation, a competence centre in permanent articulation with the needs felt by the industry and with a focus on Human Resources training and Innovation promotion, responding to training and knowledge gaps in a very specific area common to other European countries, thus creating the conditions to attract trainees and resources from other countries, which will help to scale up the Academia do Arsenal and to build additional skills.
The Academy will work in close cooperation with Defence4Incubation, a center for the development of Research and Development projects and for business incubation, and with a Digital Innovation Hub, whose constitution is scheduled for 2021.
In addition to the Academia do Arsenal, the memorandum of understanding between idD Portugal Defence and the Consortium of Engineering Schools foresees the creation of an Aeronautical Academy in the near future.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of National Defence, João Gomes Cravinho, and the Minister of the Sea, Ricardo Serrão Santos.
ABOUT THE PARTNERS
idD Portugal Defence – https://www.iddportugal.pt/
Consortium of Engineering Schools – https://www.cee.pt/
Arsenal do Alfeite – http://www.arsenal-alfeite.pt/
Associação das Indústrias Navais – https://www.ain.pt/
CONTACTS
For further information, please contact us at info@iddportugal.pt
