Government launches National Knowledge Platforms Program

 

 

The platforms aim at the participation of research excellence groups

On June 25, President Dilma Rousseff signed a decree establishing the National Knowledge Platforms Program. The objective is to promote the development of sectors that can transform Brazil into a world production power and bring the country closer to the frontier of knowledge. Health, energy, agriculture, aeronautics and information technology are among the areas to be reached by these actions.
 
“All platforms need to combine the participation of groups of excellence in research and of one or more companies or consortia of companies, which MEI representatives (individual microentrepreneurs) here know well that, if there is no entrepreneur to take to the market a new technology or a new production process, they will only be left with the idea”, analyzed the president during a ceremony at Palácio do Planalto.
 
The proposal foresees increasing investments in research and development (R&D) to 2% by 2020, in order to reduce the distance from countries such as China, Korea and the United States, which in recent years have leveraged spending in this area for the development of their economies.
 
The program also includes measures to attract highly qualified professionals from abroad to work in subprograms and endow the platforms with a special regime for purchasing and hiring people. The project will be carried out with the support of government institutions, such as Finep, BNDES and ministries.