Sines, Portugal, July 23, 2026 (Lusa) - The Setúbal Polytechnic Institute (IPS) and the company Start Campus, based in Sines, have signed a collaboration agreement to enhance professionals' skills in the technology sector and meet the need for human resources, they announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the IPS explained that this partnership follows the creation of the Higher School of Sustainability, Industry and Digital Technologies (ESSITD) in Sines, in the district of Setúbal, bringing «the academic ecosystem closer to the industrial sector».
The agreement, signed on Tuesday, provides for the development of joint training programmes «aligned with the skills requirements» of the mega-data centre, led by Start Campus.
According to the IPS, this investment «requires a sustainable strategy for attracting and retaining qualified professionals in the long term».
In the view of the IPS president, Ângela Lemos, the Alentejo coast «is a strategic region for the country, from an industrial, energy, port and logistics perspective».
Despite this, she emphasised, the region has for decades lacked «a structured presence of public higher education».
«We want a nearby polytechnic college, focused on solving concrete problems, built in collaboration with partners and committed to the region's economic, social and environmental development,» she stressed, as quoted in the press release.
The chair of the IPS ESSITD Establishment Committee, João Pires, considered this cooperation with Sines' economic fabric «essential for shaping the future, nurturing local talent and opening the doors to internationalisation».
Meanwhile, the Director of Operations at Start Campus, Luís Rodrigues, also quoted in the press release, highlighted the importance of preparing «people who learn by doing».
«You cannot build one of Europe's largest data centres without, at the same time, developing the technical capacity needed to sustain it over the next 20 or 30 years,» he maintained.
The company's Head of Human Resources, Carla Calisto, also cited the shortage of specialised professionals as a reason for the partnership and argued that companies have a responsibility to develop training solutions.
«If we want more local talent, we have to invest locally. And that begins long before the recruitment process,» she said.
Start Campus is building and operating the SINES DC project, a 1.2 GW (gigawatt) data centre campus in Portugal, representing an investment of €8.5 billion.
HYN/ADB // ADB.
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