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After INESC Porto’s “independence” in 1998, the
Institution felt the need for a service that would take care
of the planning and organization of several actions of
internal and external communication. In the meanwhile, the
main tasks within communication were now carried out by
several collaborators with other jobs and, from 1999, the
media advising was ensured by Mediana. However, there was
still the lack of a service which would integrate every
action in a planned and permanent way.
 In
March 2000, INESC Porto hired a full-time collaborator,
Sandra Pinto who was carrying out a traineeship under the
Employment and Vocational Training Institute. She has a
degree in Social Communication and she had already worked in
the area of internal communication for Portugal Telecom.
One of the first tasks of this collaborator was the
application of a survey that aimed to know the opinion and
suggestions of the collaborators in order to achieve a
complete fulfillment of their expectations and needs. One of
the conclusions that resulted from the application of the
questionnaire was the general will to release a monthly
informative bulletin.
The announcement of the results of the survey led to the
creation of the Communication service in June 2000, ensured
solely by Sandra Pinto until March 2005.
 Then,
the Communication service welcomed Lúcia Sousa, who has a
degree in Journalism and Communication Sciences (Media
Advising) in the Faculty of Letters of the University of
Porto. She started with a supervised traineeship and is
currently carrying out a traineeship under the Employment
and Vocational Training Institute.
The admission of this trainee in the Communication
Service intends to support Sandra Pinto in its organization
and management and begin or continue some important jobs
which had been postponed due to the accumulation of tasks
resulting from the 20th anniversary celebrations, such as
the recent survey regarding the Service’s activity.
One of the Communication Service’s jobs is the update of
the website with an English version for which it was
necessary to rely on a specialist in translation. So, In October
2005,we welcomed the trainee Ana Catarina Rodrigues, with a degree in
Modern Languages and Literatures – Portuguese and English
studies in the Faculty of Letters of the University of
Porto.
 Aside
from translating the general communication devices developed
by the Service, from which the INESC Porto website stands
out, Ana Rodrigues has been aiding in other needs resulting
from the several Units’ activity.
One of the Service’s functions is the production of the
Bulletin of INESC Porto (BIP) which is already five years
old and has been successful in its mission to promote the
internal information of interest to all the collaborators,
to facilitate the communication in its several ways and to
create a feeling of belonging and participation in the life
of this Institution.
 Of
equal importance is the responsibility of cooperating with
the Board in defining communication policies as well as the
image of INESC Porto, establishing the communication
channels between the Board and the internal public, working
on the Communication Annual Plan and responding to outside
requests for information.
The Communication Service is responsible for the
organization of events at several levels: general events in
INESC Porto such as the 20th anniversary celebrations;
events that promote the image of INESC Porto outside, such
as the “UP Exhibition”, the “Open Week at FEUP”, “Porto,
Technological City” or “Linux Party”, events that promote
the activity in the Units, such as the presentations of the
SIGDiC and
 Metavision
projects; and finally, events that nourish the fellowship
among the members of this Institution, such as the Football
Tournament and the Christmas Snack.
Another important activity of this Service is the
planning and coverage of the several visits to INESC Porto,
whether from students or politicians and other
personalities. Some examples are the recent visits from
Jorge Sampaio, Mariano Gago, Francisco Assis, Manuel de
Lancastre and Francisco Louçã.
 The
Communication Service also plans and organizes events
related to art and culture in INESC Porto. Some examples are
the Exhibitions of Design and Photography of the Students of
Fine Arts, the jazz concerts, the BIPolemical debates among
others.
Aditionally, the CS defines a communication strategy, in
articulation with Mediana to plan the news developed in the
Media. Therefore, it is this Service’s job to play the
intermediary between the Units’ coordinators and Mediana in
writing the news for the media. The Service also collects
and organizes all the
 information
regarding the publications and news in the press concerning
INESC Porto and its availability on Internet.
The SC is in charge of updating of a fair share of the
Intranet and Internet contents. This task is connected to
the photo coverage of events, and those photos are available
on Intranet’s photo archive.
The CS also guarantees the daily update of a board with
information on all the events occurring in the auditorium
and in other meeting rooms, as well as the internal
signaling of the head-building of INESC Porto.
They say...
 Artur
Pimenta Alves (director of the CS)
“The creation of the Communication Service has increased our
internal and external communication capacities.”
BIP, an important communication instrument, wouldn’t have
been possible without the Communication Service.
The publication of articles in the general press, which
seems possible as long as we have the support of an external
media advising like Mediana, would certainly be a lot harder
without the Communication Service that writes the news
together with the Units, captures the images and tries hard
to make everyone see how important the external divulgation
of our activities and opinions is.
And how difficult was it, before the CS, to produce
communication material for INESC Porto, for its Units and
projects? I still remember the times when every once in a
while I was the one making the final revision before
printing.
The Communication Service has undoubtedly made a great
difference and we need it in order to continue to improve
the effectiveness of our internal and external
communication”.
 Sandra
Pinto (CS)
“In spite of the difficulties and obstacles I encounter in
my life, I am, without a doubt, happy to be working in the
CS in INESC Porto. As a person who likes to communicate and
write, I am lucky to be able to do all that every day here.
I believe the Communication Service is a great help when
it comes to the development of the activity of INESC Porto
by keeping the collaborators informed, by promoting the
fellowship among everyone, by letting the public out there
know what we do. Of course we could all achieve much more
but that’s what we’re here for, we try to set our sights on
higher goals. I’m counting on all of you to make that
happen!
 Lúcia
Sousa (CS)
Since I joined the Communication Service (in March 2005), I
feel I grew both personal and professional-wise...I have the
opportunity to keep taking part in different activities, of
interacting with people who make this a welcoming and unique
Institution.
I hope I can keep developing a type of work that
contributes to a better and more effective communication
among all the members of INESC Porto, showing those who
don’t know us that it’s people that make all the difference
in the places where they work.
 Ana
Rodrigues (CS)
“I work with idioms, aiming to get messages across, hence,
intervening in the attempt to enlarge the
“internationalization” this institution has already
obtained. For that, and because the primary purpose of my
translation job is the communication itself, it is only
obvious that I should be integrated in this Service.
I have only been here for three months and that was
already enough to realize this is an energetic and committed
team. I should also mention the inexhaustible support to new
staff (my case), both professionally and personally, because
that sure makes us feel like we already belong to this big
family – INESC Porto.
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