INCOBRA - Increasing International Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Brazil and the European Union

The Internet of Things concept (IoT) appeared in 1999 in an article from Kevin Ashton, researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He defended the idea that computers would be able to observe, identify and understand the world through the exchange of information with other devices connected to the Internet. Seventeen years later, the IoT is responsible for one of the biggest prospects in the current market scenario.

By 2020, there will be 34 billion devices throughout the world connected to the Internet. This means that there are more than four devices for every human on the planet. The calculation is from the Business Intelligence (BI) and indicates that the IoT has the power to provoke a new industrial revolution. Just the IoT itself should demand an investment of $ 6 trillion, between 2015 and 2020, which will generate US $ 12.6 trillion return in the decade between 2015-2025.

Brazil is not inactive on this subject and has been promoting a series of actions to avoid losing the wave of revolution provided by the Machine to Machine technology (M2M), as is also known the internet of things. The federal government has been promoting the national market studies of IoT, and rounds of dialogues with research institutes, universities and experts, and exchange experiences with the European Union (EU) on the subject.

One such initiative is the ICT Week, an event promoted under international cooperation Sector Dialogues EU-Brazil, to discuss the opportunities and challenges for the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The event takes place until Friday (23), in Brasilia, and has devoted an entire day to discussions on the internet of things.

According to the executive manager of the National Industry Confederation (CNI), João Emílio, Brazil's strategy of study and dialogue is best suited to diagnose what will work on development dimensions and technological diffusion.

"In the world, IoT politicies are recovering the productivity of companies, a problem that affects our industry for some time. We need to make a complete diagnosis for not to err in execution. We have to look what are the national chains that will face competitive pressure outside and see which have large capacity for us to set up a global ecosystem ", said the manager of the CNI.

The IoT is already present in the Brazilian daily life and will make itself more present as the manufacture of products that can connect to each other grow. According to the president of the Brazilian Association of Information Technology and Communication Companies (Brasscom), Sergio Paulo Galindo, the main challenges for Brazil is developing a public policies model appropriate to the opportunities and identify in which segments it can be implemented.

For Galindo, you need to change the way to do public policy in Brazil. "The economic technique says that the allocation of capital is most effectively carried out by private agents," contextualizes Galindo. "We have some opportunities to build a global ecosystem, but it depends a lot of private agents. We have to give the tools to the market to develop "

The mechanisms for IoT public policy to work, in Galindo's point of view, are investments in infrastructure and research, availability of capital, the state purchasing power to induce the development of key sectors, improve the education system to have qualified human capital for IoT future.

Together the Brazilian market for information technology (IT) and Telecommunications correspond to a share of 8.7% of national GDP. And the trend is growing. To take advantage of the positive scenario, the federal government needs to adjust some legal norms in order to regulate a market that has no limits to grow.

"We need legal certainty for new things. It is the case of a Personal Data Protection Act. It should be lean, modern, principled and do not inhibit investment, "says the president of the association of ICT companies. "We have to identify the points where a legal framework is necessary to provide legal certainty, which is as essential as access to capital for private companies to invest in a potential global market."

Enthusiasm and management

During the ICT Week, the Technological Development Secretary of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC), Alvaro Prata, stressed the importance of closer ties with the European community. "We have a lot to learn especially in advanced manufacturing. We are excited about the prospects that arise. Advanced manufacturing is done with technology and high-level knowledge, "he said.

One of the opportunities is the promotion of technology-based companies that have been born 100% digital, startups, which are expected to benefit in the second wave of development of IoT. "At the time that the advanced manufacturing start getting cheaper there will come a wave turned to goods and services. It will be a paradigm shift in which people can do the customization on a large scale, "says the Innovation Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Services Development (MDIC), Marcos Vinicius. "This will open a segment of new startups to software and physical goods."

The challenge there, according to the secretary of the ministry, will be to integrate startups to the production chain of large companies. "It is not well defined in Brazil. We are making efforts in this direction, but it is a very big management challenge we have to rack their brains to solve. "

Decided

The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) took the ICT Week to announce the winner of the consultancy commissioned to design the national action plan for the Internet of Things. The expectation is that the consortium formed by McKinsey & Company, CPqD, and the office Macedo Pereira Neto Advogados start the study in November.

The plan for the Internet of Things will be valid from 2017 to 2022. The survey will make a thorough study of the market, but will have resources for immediate implementation of actions to remove major barriers to deployment of IoT.

(Philip Linhares, Management Agency ST & I)