By Werter Padilha, coordinator of the ABES IoT Committee
It was at the stage of defining the theme of this article, when the decree nº 9.854. June 25, 2019, which instituted the “National Internet of Things Plan and provides for the Management and Monitoring Chamber for the Development of Machine to Machine Communication Systems and Internet of Things”, As described at the opening of the document. The celebration in the ecosystem was great, because there was a great expectation about its officialization, as I analyzed in the text National Internet of Things Plan. After all, since 2017, the Brazilian market and society have been waiting for this decree. Therefore, the subject of the article could not be different.
The National IoT Plan (IoT.br) is an initiative of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC), the Ministry of Economy (ME) and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) in conjunction with the civil society - companies, academia, development agencies and other bodies -, and I actively participated in its preparation as a representative of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies on the advisory board, after many meetings, public consultations, research and reports, which are available for download. And, as we tend to be anxious, new questions arose: the IoT.br decree was signed. And now? What are the next steps?
First, the decree provides a definition of what IoT is and its devices (“Machine-to-machine communication systems”, with the exception of credit and debit card machines); explains how the IoT Chamber will work; reiterates which are the four priority verticals (agribusiness, health, smart cities and industry) and explains, in its second article, that Internet of Things refers to the “infrastructure that integrates the provision of value-added services with capabilities for physically or virtually connecting things to devices based on existing information and communication technologies and their evolution, with interoperability ”. In short, we have a basis for providing greater legal certainty for IoT-based projects and initiatives.
And speaking of IoT initiatives, we now have the official base that provides direction and encouragement for the continuity of ongoing actions, such as the BNDES Projetos Piloto de IOT and its credit lines, as well as the activities conducted by Finep, Embrapii, Senai, Sebrae, ABDI and the science and technology institutes. Before that, both government and private initiatives were working on projects related to IoT without a regulatory basis, especially regarding tax issues. I also remember that we have in Congress the Bill of Law 7,656 / 2017, authored by federal deputy Vitor Lippi (PSDB-SP) who proposes zeroing rates to encourage the IoT, which is already awaiting the opinion of the Rapporteur at the Commission for Constitution and Justice and Citizenship (CCJC).
As for Anatel and its certifiers, in my view, they will face the challenge of streamlining their homologation and certification processes for devices IoT, in order to prevent bureaucracy from postponing launches and, consequently, affecting business in a segment in which the possibility of obsolescence of equipment tends to be faster, in some cases.
It is also important to remember that IoT.br is aligned with the objectives and actions defined in Brazilian Strategy for Digital Transformation, made official by Decree nº 9.319, of March 21, 2018. The National IoT Chamber resumes its activities and as a result of the prioritized verticals, we already have the National Chamber of Industry 4.0, created in April 2019, in an interministerial action of the MCTIC and Ministry of Economy (ME), in which I have participated and I guarantee that many good actions and structured activities will come soon. And in this month of July, the government will institute the National Chamber of Agro 4.0, a joint action of the Ministry of Agriculture and MCTIC and, very soon, will be the Chamber Health 4.0 and Cities 4.0. And, if we consider the recent signing of the historic agreement of free Comerce, closed between Mercosur and the European Union, I dare say that in recent years we have not had such favorable conditions for “making it happen” in such a consistent way.
For this reason, I have said that I see the decree not as an end, but as the resumption of the “game” for Brazil to position itself at the forefront of the global IoT ecosystem. The trend is that many innovations will start to appear quickly in the B2B and B2C market, with new solutions for all verticals mentioned and introducing more IoT technologies in the daily lives of consumers.
The National IoT Plan (IoT.br) is an initiative of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications (MCTIC), the Ministry of Economy (ME) and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) in conjunction with the civil society - companies, academia, development agencies and other bodies -, and I actively participated in its preparation as a representative of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies on the advisory board, after many meetings, public consultations, research and reports, which are available for download. And, as we tend to be anxious, new questions arose: the IoT.br decree was signed. And now? What are the next steps?
First, the decree provides a definition of what IoT is and its devices (“Machine-to-machine communication systems”, with the exception of credit and debit card machines); explains how the IoT Chamber will work; reiterates which are the four priority verticals (agribusiness, health, smart cities and industry) and explains, in its second article, that Internet of Things refers to the “infrastructure that integrates the provision of value-added services with capabilities for physically or virtually connecting things to devices based on existing information and communication technologies and their evolution, with interoperability ”. In short, we have a basis for providing greater legal certainty for IoT-based projects and initiatives.
And speaking of IoT initiatives, we now have the official base that provides direction and encouragement for the continuity of ongoing actions, such as the BNDES Projetos Piloto de IOT and its credit lines, as well as the activities conducted by Finep, Embrapii, Senai, Sebrae, ABDI and the science and technology institutes. Before that, both government and private initiatives were working on projects related to IoT without a regulatory basis, especially regarding tax issues. I also remember that we have in Congress the Bill of Law 7,656 / 2017, authored by federal deputy Vitor Lippi (PSDB-SP) who proposes zeroing rates to encourage the IoT, which is already awaiting the opinion of the Rapporteur at the Commission for Constitution and Justice and Citizenship (CCJC).
As for Anatel and its certifiers, in my view, they will face the challenge of streamlining their homologation and certification processes for devices IoT, in order to prevent bureaucracy from postponing launches and, consequently, affecting business in a segment in which the possibility of obsolescence of equipment tends to be faster, in some cases.
It is also important to remember that IoT.br is aligned with the objectives and actions defined in Brazilian Strategy for Digital Transformation, made official by Decree nº 9.319, of March 21, 2018. The National IoT Chamber resumes its activities and as a result of the prioritized verticals, we already have the National Chamber of Industry 4.0, created in April 2019, in an interministerial action of the MCTIC and Ministry of Economy (ME), in which I have participated and I guarantee that many good actions and structured activities will come soon. And in this month of July, the government will institute the National Chamber of Agro 4.0, a joint action of the Ministry of Agriculture and MCTIC and, very soon, will be the Chamber Health 4.0 and Cities 4.0. And, if we consider the recent signing of the historic agreement of free Comerce, closed between Mercosur and the European Union, I dare say that in recent years we have not had such favorable conditions for “making it happen” in such a consistent way.
For this reason, I have said that I see the decree not as an end, but as the resumption of the “game” for Brazil to position itself at the forefront of the global IoT ecosystem. The trend is that many innovations will start to appear quickly in the B2B and B2C market, with new solutions for all verticals mentioned and introducing more IoT technologies in the daily lives of consumers.
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