The PTPC – Portuguese Technological Platform for Construction – Association is positioned as a platform for aggregating knowledge and skills of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (“AEC”) sector, with special focus on promoting the competitiveness of the business fabric. Indeed, the PTPC’s mission is to promote reflection on the construction sector and the implementation of initiatives and projects of research, development and innovation (“RDI”), which may contribute to the increase of its competitiveness within the general framework of the economy.

In this context, PTPC gathers and promotes the cooperation between large, small and medium enterprises, entities of the Research and Innovation System, associations, federations, confederations, public and private entities of the construction and public works sector or related to it, gathering today more than 50 associates that represent the sector in all aspects of the value chain (technical, technological, research and development and education).

Aware of its role as a privileged platform for the reinforcement of the AEC sector’s global competitiveness, PTPC considers the definition of a strategy for its growth and affirmation to be crucial, namely through an action plan with multiple activities, focusing on the needs of SME’s located in the so-called convergence regions, among which the development of the “2030 Strategic Plan for Innovation and Competitiveness for the AEC Sector”, carried out under the project PAQI 2016-2018 – Program to Support the Qualification of the Offer and the Innovation Management in the AEC Sector – Architecture, Engineering and Construction (operation NORTE-02-0853-FEDER-000124). In fact, it is fundamental that the national construction sector knows how to position itself in order to benefit from the growth trend foreseen, at a global level, while simultaneously facing up to the expected threats (namely in the European space).

Furthermore, anticipating the conclusion of the current European Union Cohesion Policy, Portugal and the AEC sector are today facing a moment of strategic reflection on its future, namely at the level of major strategic objectives for the country. In this context, the definition of a concerted innovation and competitiveness strategy for the sector, with a sufficiently broad time horizon and that allows for the creation of competitive advantages, is of paramount importance. It is in this context that this document, prepared in collaboration with Deloitte Consultants S.A., arises and aims to define the main strategic guidelines that will guide the performance of the sector for the next decade, as well as a set of structuring projects that will enable the materialization of the defined strategy, thus becoming the main strategic instrument for the development of the national AEC sector.