He is a Full Professor of Informatics Engineering at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra, Portugal, since 1984. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Manchester, U.K., in 1976. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from the University of Porto in 1970. He is, since 1970, a member of the teaching staff of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra, where he started his carrier as an assistant lecturer in the Physics Department. His current main research interests concentrate on Strategy and Management for Information Systems, Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning, and Information and Communications Technologies in Education.

For a period of six years he has represented Portugal in the Intergovernmental Informatics Programme of UNESCO, where he acted, between December 1994 and December 1996, as the Vice-president elected for the Western Europe Region. He has participated in various European projects, both as a partner and as a science advisor, and acted in various occasions as a consultant to the European Commission in matters regarding the definition of strategies for information and communications technologies in education. At the invitation of the NATO Science Committee, Brussels, he integrated, for a period of four years, the NATO Special Programme Panel on Advanced Educational Technology. At the invitation of the European Commission, he contributed, in 1995, to the preparation of the White Book on Education and Training for the XXI Century. In February 1999 he has been elected to the Steering Committee of the Memorandum of Understanding PROMETEUS - PROmoting Multimedia access to Education and Training in EUropean Society, of the European Commission. Within PROMETEUS, he acted as the liaison to the Special Interest Group on Organisational and Collaborative Learning.

He is the doyen of the Department of Informatics Engineering of the University of Coimbra, which he founded in 1994 and chaired until March 1997. He is the doyen and founder of the Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra (CISUC), the institution for R&D in Informatics of the University of Coimbra. He develops his relationships with enterprises as a Senior Consultant at the Laboratory of Informatics and Systems of Instituto Pedro Nunes, the university/enterprise interface institution of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra. He was one of the creators of this Institute and the founder of its Laboratory for Informatics and Systems. He was, for a period of two years, an elected member of the Senate of the University of Coimbra.

He was the creator, in 1985, of the Minerva Project, the Portuguese national computers in schools project, which he coordinated during its pilot phase until October 1988. He was a member of the Scientific Committee for Engineering Sciences of INIC, the past Portuguese National Research Foundation, and a member of the Coordinating Committee for Information Technologies and Telecommunications of JNICT, the past Portuguese National Foundation for Research in Science and Technology. He is currently a member of the Panel for Research and Development in Consortium of the National Innovation Agency, and he has also integrated international panels for the approval and evaluation of internationalisation projects. He is a member of the Strategic Committe of INETI, the National Institute for Industry, Technology and Engineering. He is a member of the panel of the IBM Science Prize since its creation in 1989 and chairs in 1999 the Descartes Prize.

He is member of the Portuguese Academy for Engineering. He is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), U.S.A., and of the Portuguese Professional Institution of Engineers. He is an elected member of the Council for Qualification and Admission of the Portuguese Professional Institution of Engineers, and he is the president of the Committee of the Portuguese Professional Institution of Engineers for the Accreditation of the Computer Engineering Courses of the Portuguese Universities.

In July 1997 he was awarded an Honoris Causa by Universidade Aberta, the Portuguese Open University.

He is the author of over 150 papers and presented over 160 communications. He has integrated over four dozens organising and science committees of conferences held both in Portugal and abroad.

November 1999