On May 2003, the COTEC Portugal's executive team defined the Strategy and the Action Plan of the Association to the 2003 and 2004 years. From this definition, COTEC Portugal has delined both the mission and vision of the Association as its strategic themes of activity:
Mission: To promote the competitiveness of companies established in Portugal, through the development and the diffusion of a culture and practice of innovation as well as of “resident” knowledge
Vision: To become a key agent of business innovation in Portugal, by challenging both public and private organizations of the national innovation system (NIS) and by coordinating its intervention with them
Strategic Themes: Theme 1. To promote a culture of innovation as a crucial source of company competitiveness Theme 2. To foster the practice of innovation by all the agents of the NIS Theme 3. To influence the strategic orientation of both the Portuguese and the European Innovation Systems Theme 4. To remove context barriers to innovation [added on 2008]
After the validation of the defined strategy and the Action Plan of COTEC Portugal to the 2003 and 2004 years, the Association requested to the Associated Members to fill a inquiry with two objectives: to involve them in the activity of the Association and to define shared action directives. In the inquiry results is reflected the Associated Members point of view about the adjustment of the Mission, Vision, Strategic Themes and strategies defined to the Association.
