Iscte - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa is developing the UpSkill: Digital Skills & Jobs program, aimed primarily at young people  who are 12th and who are unemployed or who want to pursue a career  as computer programmers. 

With this initiative, Iscte and the other entities involved intend to contribute to the fight against unemployment and to increase the level of qualification of the Portuguese in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), an area in which Portuguese companies currently report recruitment difficulties. 

In this initiative, Iscte develops its metropolitan vocation and the capacity to respond in an innovative way to the challenges of society, companies and public administration. 

This partnership involves, in addition to Iscte, the Institute of Employment and Professional Training (IEFP), the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC), the Coordinating Council of the Higher Polytechnic Institutes (CCISP). The ministries of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Economy and Labor also participate. 

Most of the 12 classes in charge of Iscte in this first phase of UpSkill (about 250 students) will have their classes at the facilities of StartUp Sintra and the rest at the headquarters of this university in Lisbon. The use of StartUp Sintra facilities is the result of a partnership with the City Council.  

This vocational training program is funded by the IEFP and is aimed at unemployed people who have at least secondary education and skills in English and who want to obtain qualifications in the field of digital technologies. Integrates an intensive training of six months, in areas such as programming in several languages, management of  cloud platforms  or programming on low-code platforms  .   

UpSkill will have new editions until more than three thousand computer boards are formed and placed in the labor market. 

More information: secretariado_upskills@iscte-iul.pt