AI can transform the country into a hotbed of technological applications

The arrival of artificial intelligence could open up a great opportunity for Brazil to transform itself into a great storehouse of applications. This is the opinion of Pierre Lucena, president of Porto Digital, the main innovation district in Latin America.

This is the opinion of Pierre Lucena, president of Porto Digital, the main innovation district in Latin America, which promotes, together with Sebrae, in Recife (PE), the Rec’n’Play festival.

In a press conference, on Friday afternoon (12), during the festival, Lucena stated that the country is currently at a “crossroads”, where it will need to decide whether it intends to be a supplier or a buyer of technology solutions.

"Brazil needs to decide if it wants to be a supplier of applications or if it wants to be a buyer. The role that I defend, and that Porto Digital defends, is that it can be a great supplier, believing in its national IT industry."

Citing pix, Embraer and Brazilian agribusiness as good examples of developing solutions that have become a reference for other countries, Lucena says that “Brazil is much less behind than one might imagine” in this area. "Not many people know, but 100% of Brazil's smartphones have technology made here at Porto Digital. A substantial portion of the world's smartphones have technology made here. We just don't use the Chinese ones yet because they are only producing now by going to Manaus," he stated.

For Lucena, the path for Brazil to become this hotbed of applications must begin by encouraging innovation environments that already exist in the country. And this must be done, he emphasizes, by expanding support from universities.

"Now you can be sure, you can't develop anywhere in the knowledge economy without the university together. There's no way. Anyone without union with the university will be left in the way. What has arrived are very complex businesses and you need the university together. There's nowhere to run", he said, reinforcing that the solution is "to bring together a strong educational base, the private sector and the government to create a connection infrastructure".

Porto Digital and Rec’n’Play

Located in the historic area of the city of Recife, Porto Digital currently has more than 24 thousand employees distributed across more than 541 companies. Last year, it had revenues of R$7.4 billion, which represented growth of 19% compared to the previous year.

To bring the population closer to the technological environment, Porto Digital and Sebrae Pernambuco have been holding the Rec’n’Play festival since 2017, which is the largest technology, innovation and entrepreneurship event in the country. According to the organizers, the festival was born to bring people, ideas and opportunities together, creating an open space to explore the transformations that impact society.

During the event, in the Recife neighborhood, lectures, workshops, debates, interactive experiences, shows and even business opportunities are promoted.

The program is all free, subject to prior registration. More information about the event can be found on the website.