Portugal approved... technically speaking
Whilst sitting in a small cafe just over a year ago here in Lisbon news broke of Websummit 2016 arriving at these shores first time. Finally the eyes of the world would get a 3 day snapshot of the message we had been banging out on our drum since early 2009.
Portugal, historically a proud nation discovering and controlling trade across vast swathes of the globe. Now, still very much a proud nation searching somewhat to regain its international identity.
Of course the Portuguese continue to travel well. One doesn't need to dig too deep in most cities around the world to find a cafe serving pastéis de nata, with Benfica, Sporting or FC Porto scarves adorning the walls. The (not so) Special One keeps his face in the media and Madeira's favourite son perennially jousts for the title of World's Best Player.
Winning the UEFA European Championships garnered some appreciation and no small respect from the sporting aficionados. Great beaches; fantastic climate; superb cuisine; award winning wine and olive oil, all go a long way to securing Portugal as a leading European destination for Travel & Tourism, but what about the Technology sector?
Historically Portugal was the convenient destination of large European blue chips for their legacy support projects. However, even 10 years ago scratching below the surface, revealed an entire cohort of exceptionally talented technologists.
The relatively small local market simply couldn’t provide sufficiently challenging or well funded projects to keep these talents motivated. Combine the global economic crisis with a generation of forward thinking, young, motivated software engineers and the subsequent migration of talent was an obvious outcome.
The behemoth of global technology consumption is forever scouring the horizon for untapped resources. It was only a matter of time before its gaze turned towards Portugal to feed the voracious demand for technology manpower.
So Portugal, how will you respond? The market is vast, the opportunities seemingly countless, anyone attempting to navigate all 3 pavilions last week at will attest to this fact. Will you cast aside your inferiority complex, step up and deliver?
To the rest of the world, how will you now view Portugal? As a destination trustworthy and capable of significant contribution to technology demand? Will you entrust Portugal with your technology projects, your start-up incubator funds and your VC investments?
Only time will tell…
One thing is for sure Portugal is now validated for technology. Locally by the healthy competition between local service providers, internationally by the acceptance of Brand Portugal on the global stage.
I'm afraid outsourcing/body shop companies will ruin the market. The so called Nearshore market is already being taken by these companies.
Portugal needs to restructure tax policies and create a serious alternative to other countries in Europe. Taxes are ridiculous in Portugal. It also requires a cultural shift on the labor side of things from both employees and employers, especially around work life balance and method. The summit was a great thing to have in Lisbon but that doesn't overcome 25% on corporation tax, employer social security at 23,75% with then having the employee paying additional 11% and on top of all to have a large PAYE (IRS) amount as well. Technically I've witness serious capabilities coming from Portuguese people.
I have been saying to my peers I didn't understand why Portugal wasn't the main tech hub in Europe. We have the brains, the willingness, the creativity and the market and costs advantage to take on any country in Europe. I don't get it. it's changing, but it's only the very beginning. I want to see Portugal as the #1 hub in Europe for both for exporting tech & tech man power, because it just makes total sense. let's make it happen.
I think we have almost all the conditions to succeed in that journey, specially with these new generations. Our government and public institutions just have to make it simpler and more attractive to investors and business owners, providing a safe and stable economic environment while stimulating its activity and growth, instead of just thinking about them as a source of income through taxes.