Experts debate IT industry trends at the ABES Software 2017 Conference

 

Blockchain, Internet of Things, Industry 4.0 and Legal Security were some of the main points of discussion during the event, held in São Paulo, last Monday (18)

 
With the main theme "Emerging Business: from Blockchain to IoT", the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES) held its Annual Conference, last Monday (18), in São Paulo. Some of the leading experts in the market - including government representatives, businessmen, journalists and academics - were invited to discuss trends in the Information Technology sector, focusing on new business opportunities and the impacts of technological developments on people's daily lives.
 
The event was divided into five panels: "Digital Government"; "Financial Innovation"; "Blockchain and Security"; "Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Opportunities"; "Legal Security in Brazil"; and "Present and Future". Key note speaker André de Castro, American of Brazilian origin, world blockchain authority and CEO of the company Blockchain of Things, showed how to use Blockchain to solve the IoT security problem.
 
Other highlights were the transformations of industry 4.0, the financial innovations that can reduce the banking spread for IT companies in Brazil, the effects of labor reform on improving Legal Security in Brazil and the challenges for building smart cities, among others.
 
"The objective of the ABES Annual Conference is to bring together member companies for a day of debates in which different views of the software and IT market are presented, which complement each other and allow us to reach a broad panorama of the sector. The Internet of Things (IoT , and the Blockchain encompass some of the most interesting projects of today, which should be increasingly incorporated into our daily lives in the near future. The figure of a refrigerator warning us when we need more milk, able to make a purchase automated and deliver a product to our home - possibly using drones and with payment made by cryptocurrencies - should not be seen as a futuristic daydream, but rather as an example of the integration between technological solutions that have already evolved a lot ", comments Francisco Camargo, president of ABES.
 
Check out a summary of the main topics highlighted in each panel:
 
Digital Government
Lauro de Lauro, ABES SaaS Committee Coordinator, ABES Deputy Director and Entrepreneur, moderated the Digital Government Panel alongside Isabela, Portuguese version of Watson, IBM's cognitive computing platform. The panel was attended by Emerson Kapaz, businessman, former Federal Deputy and rapporteur for the new Corporations Law; Sérgio Alves, General Business Environment Coordinator SEPIN / MCTIC; and Daniel Annenberg, Secretary of Innovation and Technology - PMSP.
During the panel, Isabela answered questions from the moderator about digital government. In this context, Emerson Kapaz spoke about the political moment that Brazil is experiencing, with the resumption of economic growth and how the country is moving towards a disruptive economy.
 
Sérgio Alves explained the federal initiatives for digital transformation and highlighted the sectors in which Brazil could have global competitive advantages: rural, health, cities and industry 4.0. Secretary Annenberg, on the other hand, presented the Smart City projects of the city of São Paulo, such as reducing the bureaucracy of processes and the goal of reducing the time for opening companies to five days until the end of 2017.
 
Financial Innovation
 
The panel was attended by Abdallah Hitti, Entrepreneur and COO of HIPAY - Paris - France, Carlos Fagundes, Entrepreneur and President of Integral Trust, and was moderated by Gérson Schmitt, Entrepreneur and Vice President of the Board of ABES.
 
With the message "We are all bankers", Abdallah Hitii defends the use of digital currency and the wallet (the personal digital wallet), in addition to recounting his personal experience investing in startups, with major global projects, such as HIPAY, a group specialized in payments online. Carlos Fagundes presented financial arrangements that would reduce for software entrepreneurs, such as the creation of a guarantee fund guaranteed by receivables and other unconventional assets.
 
Blockchain and IoT Security
 
Keynote speaker Andre de Castro, CEO and Founder of Blockchain of Things, explained in detail the blockchain and how it can solve, in addition to data security and banking transactions, the most critical problem of the Internet of Things: its security.
 
The CEO pointed out that blockchain allows to solve the double pay problem, because each transaction is placed in a block protected by encryption and the hash of that block is added to the next and so on. According to the executive, today, the Bitcoin blockchain is the only platform proven to be safe, with an attack vector that would require that all electrical energy on the planet be used to process a successful attack.
 
Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Opportunities
 
The panel was opened by Prof. Dr. Eduardo Costa, professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFCS) and Director of LabChis (Laboratory for More Human, Smart and Sustainable Cities). Costa analyzed how technological changes led some companies to bankruptcy and pointed out the areas of urban transport and real estate intermediation as two segments with great opportunities for success, for entrepreneurs to offer disruptive solutions.
 
Subsequently, the pulpit was occupied by Irecê Krauss, Head of the Information Technology Department of BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), who highlighted the entity's investments in projects linked to the Internet of Things, in addition to detailing the process for that IT companies benefit from the different financing options - with emphasis on Finem.
 
Rafael Moreira, Special Advisor for Industry 4.0 and Director of Innovative Technologies at MDIC (Ministry of Development, Industry and Commerce), drew attention to a "new industrial revolution" that has been led by Industries 4.0. Moreira explained the policies proposed by the government to build industrial robots, among other innovative projects.
 
Jonny Doin, entrepreneur and CEO of Grid Vortex, closed the lectures, all moderated by Weter Padilha, ABES IoT Committee Coordinator, ABES Deputy Director and Entrepreneur. Doin addressed the need for resilience in building smart cities, where smart devices can "become weapons if they are not secure" - due to the risk of cyber attacks. He cited examples of how blockchain technology can reduce this threat.
 
Legal Security in Brazil
 
Dr. Marlos Melek, Labor Judge, member of the final drafting committee of the Labor Reform, Dr. Thiago Luís Sombra, Partner of Mattos Filho, Specialist in Corporate Ethics, and Dr. Manoel Antonio dos Santos, Legal Director ABES, were the speakers. of the Legal Security in Brazil panel, moderated by Paulo Roque, Entrepreneur and vice president of ABES.
 
Dr. Melek, who actively participated in the Labor Reform, explained to the participants the main changes in the reform, which is in force as of November 11 and which should greatly increase Legal Security in Brazil. The Corporate Ethics expert, Dr. Sombra, highlighted the importance of a compliance program in the routine of companies and compared the anti-corruption laws in Brazil, the United States and the United Kingdom, analyzing how they can impact on local businesses.
 
ABES Legal Director, Dr. Manoel dos Santos spoke about the main legal challenges in the sector, such as the subjectivity of laws that create conflicts of interpretation, increasing legal uncertainty for companies, especially with regard to taxes.
 
Present and future
 
The event was closed by the debate "Present and Future", moderated by journalists specialized in technologies Cristina de Luca and Daniela Braun. Maximiliano Martinhão, Secretary for Informatics Policy (Sepin) at MCTIC; and Luciano Ramos, Research and Consultancy Manager - IDC (International Data Corporation), were invited to analyze the current moment and the future perspectives of the Information Technology sector in Brazil.
 
The panel was opened with the presentation of studies on the size of the Brazilian market and the way it went through the economic crisis. Martinhão stated that his ministry is working on a national digital strategy, so that Brazil takes full advantage of new technologies to increase its level of competitiveness. Luciano Ramos highlighted the mobility market as one of the most significant for the country's digital transformation.
 
About ABES
 
ABES, the Brazilian Association of Software Companies, is the most representative entity in the sector with around 1,600 associated or associated companies, distributed in 23 Brazilian states and in the Federal District, responsible for generating more than 120 thousand direct jobs and annual revenue US$ 20 billion per year.
 
The companies associated with ABES represent 86% of the turnover of the software development and commercialization segment in Brazil and 33% of the total turnover of the IT sector, equivalent in 2015 to US$ 60 billion of sales of software, IT services and hardware.               
 
Since its foundation, on September 9, 1986, the entity has exercised the mission of sectorial representation in the legislative and tax areas, in proposing and guiding policies aimed at strengthening the value chain of the Brazilian Software and Services Industry - IBSS, in defense intellectual property and combating piracy of national or international software and in supporting initiatives to promote research, development, innovation and the development of national software. Access the ABES Portal - www.abes.org.br or talk to our Relationship Center: (11) 2161-2833.