Since 1st of March 2012, Director of Department Information Society at the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), the National Research Council and Funding Agency, Ministry of Education and Science in Portugal. This Department is responsible for the coordination and mobilization of Information Society Policies in Portugal. From 1st September 2008 to 29 February 2012, Ana was Head of International Affairs at the UMIC-Knowledge Society Agency, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education in Portugal, the Portuguese Public Agency with the mission of coordinating Information Society policy and its mobilization. UMIC was merged with FCT on 1st March 2012.
She is the Portuguese delegate in several working parties related to Research & Innovation, Information Society, ICT and Sustainability in the European Union (EU), OECD, United Nations, ITU, and at the GAC at ICANN. She was appointed in March 2013 to the Meeting Strategy Working Group at ICANN. She is delegate to the ITU Council Working Group on International Internet-related public policy issues and to the "WSIS+10 High-Level Event: Open Consultation Process" Multistakeholder Preparatory Platform”.
She also participates in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on behalf of the Portuguese Government. She was appointed in April 2012 Member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the IGF. She was a governmental representative to the Working Group on IGF Improvements, UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD). She also covers the World Summit on the Information Society Forum co-organized annually by International Telecommunications Union, UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP.
She has been closely involved in the organization of the yearly EuroDig (European IGF Initiative) and co-organizer of the Portuguese IGF Initiative. She is also member of ISOC Chapter Portugal and member of its Board of Auditors.
She is also member of the CODATA Task Group on Preservation of and Access to Scientific and Technical Data in/for/with Developing Countries (PASTD) since November 2012.
From 2002-2008 she was the Senior Counselor responsible for Science and Technology, Information Society, Space and Education at the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the EU in Brussels.
During that time, she negotiated the European Union’s 6th and the 7th Framework-Programmes for Research, Technology and Development and the European Action Plan for Space. She negotiated the first Action Plan for the Information Society in Europe – the eEurope 2002, the eEurope 2005, the Initiative i2010–European Information Society 2010 and she is now fully engaged in A Digital Agenda for Europe DAE, as national delegate to the Preparatory HLG DAE. During the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2007 she had the opportunity to develop outreach capacities on public policy issues. She chaired various working groups thereby negotiating and finding solutions to numerous complex and sensitive policy issues. She chaired the Research Working Party, the Ad-hoc Working Party on EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology), the Telecom/Information Society Working Party (Information Society), the Joint Atomics Questions-Research Working Party, and the Education Committee (Higher Education).
She was the Senior Advisor on International Affairs to the Minister of Science and Technology (who was responsible for the national coordination of Information Society Policy as well) from 1997-2002. During that time she was involved with the Mission Unit that developed and then launched one of the first national innovative action plans on Information Society Policy at worldwide level, the Green Paper on the Information Society in Portugal (Livro Verde para a Sociedade da Informação em Portugal), in 1997.
She was also actively involved at the Portuguese Presidency of the EU in 2000, which launched the Lisbon Strategy, as the Minister’s representative at the Executive Group set-up at the Prime-Minister’s Office for the preparation of the Lisbon Strategy which was chaired by Prof. Maria João Rodrigues.
Joined the Public Administration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in September 1991, at the Technological and Industry Directorate, where she covered, among so many other issues, the European policies for Small and Medium-Enterprises and the negotiations of the former GATT and after WTO in the Textiles sector.
She is currently completing her PhD Thesis in European Studies – Public Policies at the Universidade Católica in Lisbon. Her thesis is on The Impact of the Multistakeholder Model of Information Society on Competition and Consumer Public Policies in Europe - The ICANN and IGF case studies.
She holds a MSc. in International Economics from Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, a post-graduation in Economics and Management from ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon, a post-graduation in European Studies – Economics from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and a University Degree in History from the Universidade de Lisboa (1989).
She speaks English and has a working knowledge of Italian, French and Spanish. Her mother tongue is Portuguese.