Maria José Sousa (PhD in Management, with Aggregation in Management and Public Management), is a lecturer and researcher at ISCTE/University Institute of Lisbon. She is a member of the Advisory Board of Banco Português de Fomento for Public Policies; and was a Senior Researcher at the GEE (Strategy and Studies Office) of the Ministry of Economy Portuguese, responsible for Innovation, Research and Entrepreneurship Policies, and Knowledge and Skills Manager at AMA, IP, Agency for Administrative Modernization (Ministry of the Presidency and the Council of Ministers) and a Project Manager at the Ministry of Labor and Employment, responsible for Innovation Projects and Qualification Assessment and Development Projects. Her research interests are currently in the public policies of Innovation and Research. She was also President of ISO/TC 260 – Human Resources Management, representing Portugal in ISO – International Organization for Standardization; and coordinated several European innovation projects (funded by programs such as Erasmus+, Horizon Europe and ICMPD) and is also an External Expert of COST Association – European Cooperation in Science and Technology.