Staying informed in the global aspect is challenging, nowadays there is so much news coming from everywhere and so many distractions that it is difficult to stay focused and align our actions with the objective of obtaining the best results. The opportunity is so interesting that it is difficult to be impartial, I just started moving the pieces on the board
Here I want to show the Cardano community how an opportunity is emerging in Brazil, more specifically in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
As I am considering many points, I will divide it into blocks with simple observations and information that are the basis of my belief that Rio Grande do Sul is a good place to innovate with blockchain. This text is a compilation of regional information.
Education
For those who don’t know Mario Larangeira is a Gaúcho, from Rio Grande do Sul and here is the proof. =]
Like Larangeira, many other talented developers and researchers leave the southern region of Brazil. With only 5% of the Brazilian population, Rio Grande do Sul has 11.5% of the country’s scientific production (2017). RS has the second highest density of doctors in Brazil, behind only the Federal District, the Capital of the Country. RS has technological parks that were chosen as the best in Brazil (TECNOPUC and TECNOSINOS). It has a network of high quality universities, as well as UFRGS, which was classified as the best Federal University in Brazil by MEC - Ministry of Education. RS trains 2,000 doctors a year in virtually all areas of knowledge. The State is the cradle of the country’s automation and IT industry.
Although the state’s situation is good in terms of technology, the reality is that we are no longer being so competitive, public basic education has been falling and the best chances today are in private basic education. The game needs to turn.
Government
Like most governments around the globe, especially those with an interventionist policy, Rio Grande do Sul has struggled with a deficit budget for more than 50 years. In this period of ups and downs, 1980 began, the period known as the lost decade, we went through 4 national currencies and inflation is something that is still marked in the memory of Brazilians today.
But the memory was of little use to the masses, the most affected still do not have the capacity to assimilate the state reverie in the destruction of capital, talking about self-responsibility in dealing with their personal finances is problematic, the dream is to retire through the public pension system . Today Brazil is waking up to the financial market, but wakes up still bewildered by harsh laws and out of step with technological advances.
The positive side is that we are seeing a positive change in some governance, and this is directly related to Rio Grande do Sul. Finally our generation is coming to power and has at least a more optimized approach, enough to keep the boat moving . After all, “The good that the State can do is limited; evil, infinite. What he can give us is always less than he can take from us. ” - Roberto
Aqui no Rio Grande do Sul os desafios estĂŁo em todo lugar, establishment e movimentos de esquerda que tiveram uma grande presença nos Ăşltimos anos, definitivamente empacam alguns avanços e em muitos casos amarras que sĂł podem ser desatadas a nĂvel federal.
Eduardo Leite is part of this new generation and has driven innovation wherever he goes.
Eduardo Figueiredo Cavalheiro Leite (born 10 March 1985) is the governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. He was elected with 3.128.317 votes, equivalent to 53.62% of the valid votes in the 2018 elections. Born in Pelotas on March 10, 1985, his term of office ends in 2022. He reached the position of governor when he was 33 years old, becoming the youngest governor in Brazil. Leite began his career path in politics early. He was mayor of Pelotas, a city in the South of Rio Grande do Sul, from 2013 to 2016, after being elected with approximately 110 thousand votes. Prior to that, he served as secretary of the City Hall, alderman and president of the City Council, also in Pelotas. During his term as mayor of his hometown, Leite modernized management methods and prioritized fiscal austerity, which resulted in balanced public accounts. He was able to guarantee funding for major infrastructure works and the remodeling of the urban mobility system, and he also improved Health and Education indicators. He completed his term with 87% of popular approval in public opinion surveys. Since he believes re-election is a problem in current Brazilian political system, he did not run for a new term. Instead, Leite nominated his vice-mayor, Paula Schild Mascarenhas, as a candidate, and she won the election with approximately 112 thousand votes. Eduardo Leite was chosen by “Americas Quarterly”, a North-American magazine, as one of the five most promising politicians under 40 in Latin America. He went to Columbia University, in New York City, USA, where he studied Public Policy, and is currently taking a master’s degree in Public Management at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, in São Paulo.
The Estonia of Brazil
Faced with so many problems, the planning and execution of improvements cannot stop, and for that the government has been taking an active position and in the best possible direction. Despite the good combination of technological pole and new governance, Rio Grande do Sul has to allow itself to innovate, not only that, it has to support and encourage this innovation.
We recently had GovRS Talk, a channel for sharing information and knowledge within the scope of the Rio Grande do Sul Executive. This first edition dealt with the November 2019 mission to Estonia Sweden and Israel.
Among the main lessons learned, is the conviction of intensifying the digitalization of the services provided, facilitating digital access to these services by citizens, developing a digital identity for every citizen in the state. Also noteworthy was the signing of a cooperation agreement between RS and Estonia to provide exchanges of experiences that will speed up the state’s learning curve.
The contents covered in the 27 agendas during the mission highlighted the importance of establishing strategic international partnerships for the economic and social development of the State. In addition, he drew attention to Estonia, which has only three services that require the physical presence of a citizen: marriage, divorce and property purchase and sale.
“Another example of the digitalization of services in the country is the medical prescriptions that go straight to the pharmacy. Everything working perfectly and making people’s lives easier ”.
"It is necessary to do a job so that the citizen believes electronically in the government", said Arvo Ott director - executive e-Governance Academy ( eGA ) from Estonia
LuĂs Lamb, Secretary of Innovation, said he believes that the government’s role in the state is to bring about a change in mentality, which updates Rio Grande do Sul in promoting digital business. The Government recently finalized the strategic planning for the next 10 years of government, in which it is favorable to all points of innovation and promotion of technology.
The Rio Grande do Sul
Ok, so far we have a good combination of social capital and state motivation, but where and how are opportunities distributed in the southern region? Here is a presentation of the main economic drivers in the region.
Dos setores que têm portas de entradas mais interessantes, e que são mais óbvias, são a agroindústria e coureira calçadista. Ambas com um desafios e anseios pelo lado do produtor quanto do consumidor, aqui um bom entendedor já visualiza impacto que supply chain pode ter nesses dois setores.
No setor coureiro calçadista temos os anseios do consumidor por um produto de qualidade, em que o prestĂgio da marca seja levado adiante, agregando valor e dificultando a falsificação. No processo produtivo o consumidor busca por empresas que estejam em conformidade com as leis de proteção ambiental, que em alguns casos sĂŁo rigorosas e se estendem ao setor da agroindĂşstria.
We recently had scandals regarding the origin of meat in the agribusiness sector, the challenge is even greater because the amount of information that needs to be collected extends to the care of the animal, slaughter and distribution of the goods, the detailed record of the history is indispensable for controls and precise contingency actions.
This collected information does not reach the consumer or even imagine that it exists. A big point to be made here is in relation to the small producer, who often has a product with excellent quality but loses price competitiveness due to the cost of regulatory adjustment and technological implementation.
Efforts to deliver a quality product here are many and definitely supply chain and new technologies have an important role in the future, the possibilities in RS are great and we can replicate solutions for other segments such as wood and health.
All of the above sectors are part of the government’s strategic objective to bring more innovation and real improvements in services and business. For this, the government created the program called Acelera RS, the program is subdivided into several projects, which basically attack the main points to raise an innovative entrepreneurship ecosystem for a new economy.
Some of them are:
- NOVA RS – Development and implementation of Regional Innovation Ecosystems in RS
- Startup Lab - Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship
- TechFuturo - Technologies that hold the future for strategic economic sectors
- Premium Products - Strengthening of Productive Chains
- Strategic partnerships for innovation
- Educate to innovate
Initiatives
In Rio Grande do Sul we not only have the state with a good position, but we also have many other initiatives and a good acceptance of cryptocurrencies in the region.
We are the second capital of Brazil that most accepts bitcoin in commercial locations , one of the notary offices in my city was the first in Brazil to implement certification via blockchain through bitcoin with colored coins.
The development of new research and collaboration centers is starting to be launched in partnership with universities.
We have two references in collaborative hubs that have recently emerged, Icolab and Blockchaincolab, the cool thing is that the centers provide an approximation of the academic institution, companies and the crypto community in general. It is also interesting to note that in both of the collaborative centers it has partnerships with private credit, insurance and automotive companies. It is definitely an interesting environment to be involved in, something that is already underway.
My actions are the result of this observation of the regional panorama, the openness to partnerships between private companies, governments and international partnerships. There are several programs and in different segments that can be combined with new blockchain technologies to boost a new economy, and at the same time please the public and private sector.
Based on this I am doing a mapping of the players and addressing 1 to 1 through email. The intention is to start a relationship and develop a business knowledge base for these startups, with that in mind it is easier to advance proposals and partnerships.
My focus today is supply chain, preferably in the agricultural sector, but the industrial sector is also a considerable opportunity. At the moment my actions are restricted only to these contacts via e-mail, however I will be obliged to start trips that will be important for networking. And it is with this small step that I intend to bring Cardano closer to Brazil and consequently to Rio Grande do Sul.
Taking the opportunity to finish, I recently requested the creation of a portal for Cardano’s ambassadors, one of the reasons was due to contacts by email, I felt the need to have a domain that had an official recognition, a more formal presentation as an ambassador. Incidentally, the same topic was discussed in London and today we are creating the most detailed scope of this portal together with all the ambassadors.
For those who are reading this article and want to know a little more about the projects that I intend to occupy myself for the next years, just access the website Ouros Stake Pool , any support for the work I’m trying to do already helps.
You can find this post here.