*By Andriei Gutierrez
The data-driven economy is not a new concept, but it is on the rise with current digital transformation projects. Thousands of data are generated daily by smartphones, industrial sensors and in public services, just to name a few sectors. And it was this disruptive scenario that influenced the creation of the Brazil, Digital Country movement, led by ABES (Brazilian Association of Software Companies), in partnership with various business entities, which celebrated its five-year trajectory in May.
I remember the first event that the movement organized, with a few people still, I couldn't even imagine the proportion of achievements and size we have today. At that time we already knew that digital is the master of our time, so it is possible to intensely impact all spheres of society. And, since the beginning, we have been relentless in our mission to share information, demystify bits and bytes and provoke decision makers to build a country that is not only more digital, but also less unequal.
Together with Fábio Rua, Co-founder of Brazil, País Digital, we pioneered the field with the legislature and managed to influence many decision-making processes, such as the LGPD (General Data Protection Law), so important for awareness and the advancement of a culture protection of personal data and privacy in Brazil.
Over these 5 years of the initiative, we were able to impact more than 10 million Brazilians through the portal https://www.brasilpaisdigital.com.br and our social networks, on which we have about 170,000 followers. During this beautiful journey, we were active witnesses of the digitalization by the Federal Government of more than two thousand services and the notorious mark of more than 100 million people registered on the Gov.BR platform. But it is still necessary to evolve more, digital citizenship is to guarantee the principles and rights listed in the Constitution to all citizens also in the virtual environment. We are growing at breakneck speed with the advancement of digital services and it is necessary for governments to advance at the same pace and amplitude that we have seen in the private sector.
We believe that increasingly bringing citizens, government, academia and the corporate world closer together, we will be able to stimulate the formation and development of essential ecosystems for the digital transformation of the country.
We were also witnesses to the acceleration that the pandemic brought to the digital transformation underway in the country. Acceleration that forced governments, companies and citizens to dive deeply into their trajectories of digital transformation and accelerate their cultural changes. It was thanks to technology that we saw many businesses being created, survive or even reinvent themselves. We follow the challenge that has been the consolidation of the home office culture, classes and distance medicine.
And we don't shy away from raising our voice to also echo our concern for this digital transformation not to be a potentiating element of the structural social inequality that we have inherited in our country. We call for public policies of inclusion, of democratizing the benefits of technology to build a fairer country, with equal opportunities and greater generation of value in the medium and long term.
Therefore, it is important to emphasize that the training of our young people and the re-qualification of professionals in the market has become a matter of great concern, as the pandemic accelerated the digital transformation and with it structural changes in the required qualifications. We understand that there is an urgent need for a great national consultation with a focus on the qualifications of the future and on the preparation of the 21st century worker. More qualified workers, in addition to being a strong element of inclusion, will be an essential factor for national economic development, for the competitiveness of our companies and our country.
Thinking digital is understanding that the answers given to the market today may be insufficient for the demands of tomorrow. Paradigm changes are needed, in the very questions we ask in search of these answers. Culture change. Therefore, it is necessary to establish permanent training projects for professionals and society itself, encouraging constant learning.
The Movimento Brasil, País Digital celebrates its 5th anniversary and we are very proud of our trajectory, of all the partners and collaborators we have had throughout this time and, above all, of having been protagonists and witnesses of the digital transformation of our country. In the certainty that the journey has just begun, we will continue walking confident that, in the absence of answers to all the questions, we are moving on the right path: that of a more digital and less unequal country.
* Andriei Gutierrez is Coordinator of the Regulatory Committee of ABES (Brazilian Association of Software Companies) and Co-founder and Coordinator of Brazil, País Digital
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