Portugal's Ordem dos Engenheiros demands regulation of tech‑critical competencies

The Ordem dos Engenheiros (OE) has called for urgent regulation of technical qualifications for professionals working on critical digital systems, including information technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data protection and cyber‑defence. The demand follows recurring technical failures in state‑run digital platforms, the most recent being the digital assessment of almost 300,000 secondary‑school exams, which suffered multiple glitches and delayed the release of results.

OE highlighted similar problems in other public services such as the teacher‑placement system and the Ministry of Justice’s Citius platform. OE president Fernando de Almeida Santos warned that entrusting critical state infrastructure to individuals without recognised engineering qualifications is unacceptable and endangers citizens’ well‑being. The professional body announced it will submit technically‑based proposals to define the required qualifications, responsibilities and regulatory framework for engineers in these critical areas.