Rui Moreira is in favour of a “significant and solid” Northern contribution as regards digital transition

Rui Moreira was the keynote speaker of the conference “Territórios em Transição" [“Transition territories”, free translation], which marked the 133rd anniversary of the Jornal de Notícias, yesterday, on 2 June.

The Mayor of Porto affirmed today that the North must have the ambition of being “a hyper-connected region, where it is possible to access to state-of-the-art, reliable and efficient communication networks”. Rui Moreira was the speaker in the conference themed "Territórios em Transição", [“Transition territories”, free translation], which marks, on 2 June, the 133rd anniversary of the Jornal de Notícias.

The pandemic altered the paradigm and made it “difficult to project the future with a reasonable degree of certainty”. The “abrupt changes that the market faces” make it necessary for governing authorities to provide a swift action, and the Mayor of Porto maintains that in order to provide the necessary responses to the challenges brought by remote working and for that “change to be effective, balanced and without leaving anyone behind, it is adamant to structurally invest in digital infrastructures, in knowledge, and in innovation”, Rui Moreira declared this afternoon, during the conference of the 133rd anniversary of the newspaper JN, which was also attended by the Prime Minister, António Costa.

According to Rui Moreira, future times “demand the assurance of sustainable growth, aligning the fight against climate change, with territorial and biodiversity valorisation measures, digital infrastructures and knowledge and education”. In addition, it is also “imperative” to approach the issues as energy, mobility, construction and housing.

“The key to challenge and face the future must be a strong intervention up North, significant and solid, in the scope of a knowledge-based economy, innovation and digital transition”, summarised Rui Moreira, furthering that this “new economy” must meet “investments on priority areas”.

Nothing will be achieved if there is not a strong synergy with Higher Education institutions and research centres, the Mayor of Porto noted, and praised the excellent quality standards of the latter and of the human resources alike.

The “culture of innovation” must be implicit in the ambition to have a “hyper-connected region”, which prioritises “not only access by families in their households, but also by the several companies in the places where they want to establish themselves”, enhanced Rui Moreira.

In that regard, the strongest allies are the new generations. “The assurance that connectivity is of top quality, that endures this new way of being ‘always connected’, which is regarded by the youngest generations as the new normal”.

The conference to mark the anniversary of the JN, which took place in Vila Nova de Gaia, was attended by the Mayor of that city, Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues, by Inês Cardoso, Director of JN, by Marco Galinha, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Global Media Group, Domingos de Andrade, Editorial Director-General of the Global Media Group, and Afonso Camões, Secretary-General of the Group, among other personalities.

The Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira shared, as well, the example of Porto Digital, the network in the city of Porto that provides free Internet access in public spaces. This infrastructure has ensured access to over 3.5 million devices, “of which I highlight the over 300 thousand students and researchers of Higher Education, both national and foreigners”, declared Rui Moreira, advancing that an expansion is planned to be implemented, “and this will be the first sixth generation network to be made available in a city of this dimension”. The investment will be a tenfold upgrading of the network’s capacity, making sure that it is possible to stroll around the city and in its most iconic places, always being connected.

Domingos de Andrade: “We are one of the most centralized and centralizing countries in Europe”

Building upon the words by Rui Moreira, Domingos de Andrade, former Director of JN and now the Editorial Director-General of the Global Media Group, enhanced that JN, a project that was established in 1888, aims at “projecting the future with a reasonable degree of certainty”, on a daily basis, and on a more local look as regards the full scope of issues”.

Issues that relate to “aging and depopulation”, which threaten the country’s future and that generate “profound inequalities” in the territory, affirmed Domingos de Andrade. As regards the countryside, it is not enough, therefore, the much-vaunted bet on digital transition. Prior to any of that, it is necessary to “ensure access to health, it is necessary to ensure access to culture and to other essential goods”, otherwise we will “be raising first and second class Portuguese citizens”, he enthused.

Regarding the expected 5.3 billion euros from the “bazooka” for digital transition, Domingos de Andrade affirmed that the key factor is to realise, within the 14 billion euros in the form of straight grants, “how much will be channelled to reverse inequalities and to solve the real problems of people and companies”.

“A country is not build solely with the modernizing of the State's organization”, emphasised the Editorial Director-General, who concluded his intervention by highlighting the significance of local power, because he deems it the greatest expression of democracy, by the level of proximity to the citizens, as this is the “most scrutinised” power.

“Despite the Portuguese municipalities receiving circa 14% of public revenue, City Halls are responsible for 52% of public investment”, he noted. “We are one of the most centralised and centralising countries in Europe, despite the fact that it is clear that the state is less effective and less productive when spending taxpayer’s money”, concluded Domingos de Andrade.

The Prime Minister, António Costa closed the conference that marks the 133rd anniversary of JN by mentioning some topics regarding national governance, related to the country’s growth and to the opportunity of the European Bazooka. The Prime Minister affirmed that the new railroad connection Lisbon-Porto-Galiza “is a priority” because he believes that it is necessary to consider the Iberian space as a “second projection front”, to value the countryside.

The first edition of the Jornal de Notícias was published on 2 June 1888: large scale four pages, that cost 10 réis (ancient currency).