| As in some other countries (Uruguay is an example that immediately comes to mind), the education system in Portugal was seen as a vector by which to introduce ICT tools and ICT-enabled products and services broadly across Portuguese society. In order to make this happen, Portugal \"stressed a systemic approach, including improving school infrastructure, leveraging educational technology, working with government leaders, industry, and the community to build the synergy for school reform.\" From the very start, efforts and mechanisms to ensure sustainability were baked into all facets of the various large-scale educational technology initiatives. In other words: Project sustainability wasn\'t something that factored into plans once something had rolled out, but rather was a critical component for plans at all phases of planning and implementation. (In my experience, Portugal is a rather singular global example in this regard.) |
