NIC.br contributes to Interministerial Meeting on Public Policies and ICT Indicators

The 4th edition of the Meeting included the launch of three publications by Cetic.br

In collaboration with the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br), the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations, and Communications (MCTIC) held the 4th Interministerial Meeting “Dialogues on Public Policies and ICT Indicators” last Thursday (06/28), in Brasília/DF. The Meeting aimed to discuss, based on indicators produced by Cetic.br, how information and communication technologies (ICT) can boost public policies developed by the federal government, specifically addressing the topics of smart cities, e-commerce, and broadband. National and international experts were invited to participate in the panels of the Meeting to support the discussion on trends and future scenarios, as well as to promote the exchange of experiences in the context of the digital transformation experienced by citizens, companies, and governments.

“We are very pleased to provide information that allows for the formulation of policies by public management and to assist managers with data that enable better decision-making,” stated Demi Getschko, CEO of NIC.br, at the opening of the event.

“There are few countries that have a civil society organization capable of producing data with such quality, for so long, focused on the information and communication technology sector. The data produced by Cetic.br structured the National Broadband Plan, for example,” highlighted the director of the Department of Broadband at MCTIC, Artur Coimbra. “This event should be highly valued by all of us, from the Ministry and civil society, because it means we are at the forefront of our country’s discussion, with good and valid information and seeking solutions to our problems,” he added.

Similarly, the Deputy Executive Secretary of MCTIC, Alfonso Orlandi, highlighted the role of indicators for public management. “The indicators show whether we are indeed on the right path or not. ICTs are fundamental for the government to demonstrate why it is here.”

In his speech, the Secretary of Digital Policies at MCTIC, Thiago Camargo, emphasized the importance of Brazil's multistakeholder model of internet governance: “Brazil managed to bring a multistakeholder solution to internet governance and make this produce more knowledge to underpin public policies that improve the internet itself.”

In the opening lecture of the event, “Key Issues for Digital Transformation,” keynote speaker Anne Carblanc from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) stated that public policy production has been impacted by digital transformation. “Digital transformation offers many opportunities; it can promote more inclusive societies, improve the quality of public service, but at the same time poses many challenges. It transforms how we interact, changes the nature of organizations and markets. Preparing or improving a national strategy requires a better understanding of digital transformation in any country,” highlighted Anne, who presented the OECD framework for digital transformation (OECD Integrated Policy Framework for Digital Transformation).

After the opening lecture, the first of the three panels that made up the program of the 4th edition of the Meeting began. Each panel included the presentation of Indicators from the ICT Surveys conducted by Cetic.br, and a lecture by an international guest. Following that, the debate table was composed of representatives from the government, private sector, and academia.

Smart cities: challenges for ICT use in urban management

In the first panel, “Smart Cities: challenges for ICT use in urban management,” data from the survey ICT E-Government 2017 were presented by Manuella Maia Ribeiro from Cetic.br, in an occasion that also marked the launch of the printed publication of the survey, which includes analyses and articles, along with the collected indicators on the topic. The results of this edition show that 18% of municipalities reported having some smart city plan or project. This proportion reaches 77% in capitals and 70% in municipalities with more than 500,000 inhabitants. When presenting the new module of the Survey, which maps the use of technologies in urban management in Brazilian municipalities, the researcher pointed out possible difficulties for implementing smart cities in Brazil, mainly due to inequalities in ICT infrastructure and management and the provision of electronic services and participation channels between regions and municipalities of different population sizes. The international speaker of this panel, Delfina Soares from the United Nations University (UNU-EGOV), highlighted that the promotion of smart cities should serve to promote digital equality. Initiatives that do not include small cities or those that lack resources to transform into smart cities may propel large municipalities even further ahead in terms of technological use and mastery, amplifying already existing inequalities.

Américo Tristão Bernardes from MCTIC moderated the panel's debate, which besides the international guest, also included Carlos Frees from the Brazilian Industrial Development Agency (ABDI), Luís Felipe Salin Monteiro from the Ministry of Planning, Development and Management (MPDG), and Maurício Bouskela from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The debaters addressed key issues on how to plan and implement actions related to the topic, as well as report what each institution has done to contribute to the smart cities scenario, whether in the scope of the creation and testing of technologies, federal initiatives to strengthen integration and implementation of technology initiatives, or the possibility of diagnosing necessary capabilities for the construction of smart cities in Brazil.

Digital transformation and perspectives for e-commerce

The second panel “Digital transformation and perspectives for e-commerce,” marked the launch of the ICT Enterprises 2017 Survey book, with highlights presented by Leonardo Melo from Cetic.br. In his speech, Leonardo highlighted the advances in e-commerce activities in Brazil and stressed the challenges for Brazilian companies to seize the economic potential of the digital environment. The international guest, Teresa Moreira from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), presented initiatives from this organization concerning consumer protection in the context of the digital economy. She also pointed to the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, reinforcing the importance of ensuring consumer and business trust in the digital environment.

The debate of the second panel addressed the panorama of opportunities and challenges for the sector and was moderated by Daniel Brandão from MCTIC, with the participation of Carlos da Fonseca, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE), Douglas Ferreira, Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC), Jorge Arbache, MPDG and University of Brasília (UnB), and Leonardo Palhares, from the Brazilian Chamber of Electronic Commerce (Câmara-e.net). The debaters analyzed the centrality of e-commerce as a strategy for economic growth, highlighting the obstacles to be overcome and the public and private actions to promote the digitalization of Brazilian companies.

Supply, demand, and broadband quality

The final panel, “Supply, demand, and broadband quality,” included the launch of the book “Broadband in Brazil: a study on the evolution of access and quality of internet connections”, the third in the NIC.br Sector Studies series. Fabio Senne from Cetic.br highlighted the main results of the publication, which compiles data collected by the Internet Traffic Measurement System (Simet) and various surveys conducted by Cetic.br over a four-year period (2013 to 2016), allowing the presentation of data from urban schools, health establishments, businesses, federal and state public agencies, and municipalities. Among the results, Fabio highlighted that, although the indicators show improvement in the analyzed period, the broadband Internet speed measured still presents inequalities, whether between Brazil's regions, social classes, or areas (rural and urban).

The international guest Lorrayne Porciuncula from the OECD discussed the role of public broadband policies as pillars for digital transformation. Lorrayne emphasized why broadband is necessary, highlighting that considering policies in this area should be a constant process to always follow discussions around technologies. In this scenario, it is important to discuss public policies at national, regional, and international levels.

The final presentation followed with Arthur Coimbra from MCTIC, who moderated the panel composed of the international guest and Nilo Pasquali from the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), Basílio Perez from the Brazilian Association of Internet Providers (Abrint), and Milton Kashiwakura from NIC.br. Among the discussions of the debate, it was emphasized that, although new metrics and indicators help portray the broadband situation in the country, the connection speed parameter is still important for measuring access quality.

The event concluded with Alexandre Barbosa, manager at Cetic.br, who highlighted the importance of the Interministerial Meeting promotion by MCTIC. “It reflects the Ministry's vision on the importance of designing data-based public policies.” Lastly, Johnny Ferreira dos Santos, director of strategic management at MCTIC, highlighted the relevance of the Meeting for discussion and experience exchange on public policies in the context of ICT.

Access the publications: https://cetic.br/publicacoes/indice/. Check out photos of the 4th Interministerial Meeting “Dialogues on Public Policies and ICT Indicators”: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sintonizemcti/albums/72157697981763574.

This content was automatically translated with the support of artificial intelligence.