Pordata

PORDATA, the Database of Contemporary Portugal, organized and developed by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, was created in 2009 by its founders - Alexandre Soares dos Santos and his family, descendants of Francisco Manuel dos Santos, to whose memory they dedicated the Foundation.

PORDATA embodies one of the priorities of the Foundation: the collection, compilation, systematization and dissemination of data on multiple areas of society, for Portugal and  its municipalities, and for the European countries. The reported statistics derive from official and certified sources, with data production skills in the respective areas. The Foundation's endeavor consists in collecting and organizing the data available, making it as clear and accessible as possible. Also, the important work of contextualized information, the so-called "metadata", as an inextricable part of the data, enabling its adequate interpretation. The Foundation believes to be providing a public service to the Portuguese society, free of charge and without any cost to the user.

PORDATA was presented to the public on the 23 February 2010 and the statistical data was made available in three phases: Portugal (February 2010), Europe (November 2010), Portuguese regions and municipalities (May 2012).

Over sixty official agencies, with particular emphasis to Statistics Portugal, cooperate with PORDATA. The great openness of the official agencies to PORDATA’s data solicitation deserves a word of fair and grateful appreciation by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.

Following the launch of PORDATA, and according to its principles and mission, the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation decided to accompany this project with training programmes on the use of the website, from which several thousand people have benefited. Many institutions, such as schools, universities, enterprises, municipalities, corporations, etc., also derived benefits from this initiative.

The management of this ambitious project was entrusted by the Foundation’s governing bodies to Maria João Valente Rosa, between June 2009 and February 2019. Since 2020, the management of Pordata is in charge of Luísa Canto e Castro Loura, with a team of direct collaborators (Ana Luísa Barbosa, Mónica Santos, Joana Zózimo, Joana Mateus, Sofia Barão, Felippe Clemente and Andreia Marçal).