Project could benefit small technology-based companies across the country
The Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and FAPESP signed a cooperation agreement worth R$ 98 million to support scientific and technological research projects that contribute to the development of the internet in Brazil.
“The amount to be allocated to projects corresponds to the remaining resources from the period in which FAPESP, by delegation of the Internet Management Committee in Brazil (CGI.br), managed the activities of domain registration and allocation of IP addresses in the country, among 1998 and December 2005, when this task was taken over by the Ponto BR Information and Coordination Center (NIC.br)”, said Celso Lafer, president of FAPESP.
Resources will be distributed among projects submitted by researchers across the country, proportionally to the number of domain registrations requested by each Brazilian state in that period. “Fapesp opened itself up to help the CGI, at a time when NIC.br did not yet exist, and this support was fundamental”, highlighted the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Marco Antônio Raupp.
The State of São Paulo will have 47% of the R$ 98 million to support research projects under the agreement that involves the two ministries and FAPESP. The agreement will be implemented by a management committee formed by representatives of FAPESP, MCTI and, in the case of the Ministry of Communications, by representatives of CGI.br. The committee will be responsible for preparing calls for proposals with annual validity, through which research projects will be selected.
Researchers from higher education and research institutions and small technology-based companies (with less than 100 employees) from across the country may submit proposals. Projects must be aligned with at least one of the three research axes – key applications for the internet, engineering and technology and scientific foundations.
The agreement foresees the development of projects in six lines of investigation: Technology Enabling the Internet; Advanced Internet Applications; Network Communication and Digital Culture; Internet Policies; Free software; Open Formats and Standards; and Social Applications of Information and Communication Technology.
The text of the scientific and technological cooperation agreement can be read at www.fapesp.br/8388.
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