Mário Amaral is the Adviser to the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) on digital technologies, including semiconductors, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence & data. In the past, he was the coordinator of the FCT Space Office and national delegate to the ESA Council. He also worked in the space policy and research unit of the European Commission (currently DG-DEFIS) and, more recently, in the research and space team of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union in 2021.