Country Experiences in Pursuing National Digital Transformation: Brazil perspective Virgilio A. F. Almeida National Secretary for Information Technology Policies Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Palo Alto, October 2015

NO MATTER WHAT THE CURRENT SITUATION IS, ONE THING SEEMS CLEAR: THE FUTURE WILL BE DRIVEN BY THE DIGITAL ECONOMY. Warning: Virgilio Almeida 2

LACK OF AN INTEGRATED AND STRATEGIC VISION FOR THE DIGITAL FUTURE, THAT IS USUALLY SPREAD OVER SEVERAL MINISTRIES AND AGENCIES Main obstacle to create a digital transformation strategy: Virgilio Almeida 3

North Center west Southeast Northeast South GDP: 5% POP: 8.3% ARE: 45% GDP: 10% POP: 7.4% ARE: 19% GDP: 14% POP: 27.8% ARE: 18% GDP: 55% POP: 42.1% ARE: 11% GDP: 17% POP: 14.4% ARE: 7% GDP: 72% POP: 57% Source: IBGE 2011 Brazil Facts and figures Population: 210 million 85% living in urban area 105 million Internet users (2014) 5th largest territory in the world GDP: USD Trillion in 2013 ICT MARKET 169 billion US$ in 2013

Obstacles Due to the nature of digital technologies: The transversal, distributed and multidisciplinary nature of digital technologies is a blessing and a curse: initiatives are scattered in different directions; The lack of understanding by high-level government officials of the disruptive nature of digital technologies; The way different parts of government view digital technologies: e.g.: culture (IP, political), telecommunication (telcos), S&T (innovation), economy (taxes); Digital technologies are viewed as means that might increase inequality; The fast pace of the digital technology evolution: 2011 – use of tablets 2015 – tablets are declining – now are IoT and sharing economy tech; Virgilio Almeida 5

Obstacles Due to characteristics of developing economies Competition for resources between digital transformation initiatives and fundamental and legitimate needs of the society, such as water supply, sanitation, waste disposal, public transportation, etc. (false dilemma) Traditional economists and policy makers do not ``understand’’ the digital economy; their focus is mainly concentrated on fiscal adjustment, inflation, taxes, regulation, IMF, etc. Digital transformation strategies should go hand-in-hand with economic agendas, but usually they are not related. In large countries, national strategies are difficult to implement due to deep regional differences; Setting national long-term goals is difficult, due to the fast changing pace of technology; Lack of indicators and statistics on the use of information and communication technologies in many countries. Virgilio Almeida 6

What can be done? Short and long term initiatives: concrete actions Focus of digital transformation strategies should be on people – not technology; e.g.: let’s take the case of IoT: Who benefit from it? Training programs for high-level government officials; Education – emphasis on STEM disciplines; Attract scientists from social sciences and humanities to study the digital transformation of the society; Attract girls and women to digital technologies; Use TV Networks to create role models for the digital economy : presence of software engineers, programmers in soap operas, local movies, music shows, etc Modernize government interfaces with apps that facilitate the daily life of citizens (in particular poor people). Governments have difficult to do this. Simple question: compare the popularity of FB, Google, Whatsup with e-gov services. Create MOOCs, through public-private partnerships, to attract and equip young people of the less-favored classes with digital technology skills. Use a combination of technology, art and music. Virgilio Almeida 7

What can be done? Government macro initiatives A digital transformation strategy must be part of the economic and political agenda of the country; A digital transformation strategy should be a combination of a central (federal) government initiative with regional initiatives for the digital future (e.g. startup programs) Strengthen cyber-security programs in a multi-stakeholder way. Private Sector & Society Include digital technologies issues in the agenda of political parties, similar to what was done with environment issues; Collect and make statistcis about digital society publicly available Creation of think-tanks in developing countries to understand the impact of digital technologies: Impact on job creation and destruction is not well studied and understood; Impact of digital on the food production chain; Impact of digital on healthcare; Impact of digital on public safety. Virgilio Almeida 8

Positive Characteristics of Brazil Modern cyberspace governance framework Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) – multistakeholder organization Marco Civil – Internet Civil Rights Law Personal data Protection Bill – Large set of statistics and indicators on the use of Internet and ICT: ICT in Health 2014 ICT in Electronic Government 2013 ICT in Brazilian Schools 2013 ICT Kids Online Brazil 2013 Society is open to new technologies Government programs to reduce taxes on products for the digital economy: PCs, smartphones and tablets. Association of digital initiatives with social programs of government-based Startup programs Virgilio Almeida 9

Agenda for Digital Brazil: Main Areas Digital Society Competitiviness Government as Plataform Crosscutting Initiatives Technological and Digital Sovereignty

Thanks! Virgilio Almeida 11