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

The 4th Brazil - European Union (EU) Coordinated Call for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) research has already received 50 proposals. The number represents an increase of 28% in relation to the previous notice. Of the total, 33 projects are in Internet of Things (IoT), 13 in cloud computing and four in 5G networks.

The number surpassed expectations, according to Wanderson Paim, coordinator of projects of the Center for Research and Development in Digital Technologies for Information and Communication of the National Network of Teaching and Research (RNP). "The challenges start from the formation of the consortium, which depends on the interests, choice of themes and focus of the proposals, and the appropriate writing and formatting. It is a joint effort that requires a great effort from the coordinators, "he commented.

Generally, consortia are composed of an average of five Brazilian institutions and five other European institutions, which must coordinate to write a proposal with approximately one hundred pages, including a brief summary of the proposing researchers. According to Paim, results are expected to be released by July, and project execution is expected to begin in January 2018.

In the 4th Coordinated Call, Brazil and the European Union will invest 16 million euros in six projects with the duration of three years. The objective is to encourage technological progress and innovation, as well as the qualification of human resources. The so-called coordinated calls began in 2010. Among the supported projects are biosensors for detection of tropical diseases, a platform for sharing biodiversity data and sensors used in the automotive industry.

 

(ABIPTI Agency, with information from MCTIC)