BMDV actively participates in 8th Brazilian Innovation Week

The delegation of Dr Rudolf Gridl (BMDV) visited Brasília from 6 to 9 August. This marked the first official visit of a German counterpart to Brazil in the framework of the German-Brazilian Digital Dialogue.

As part of the official programme of the Innovation Week 2022, Dr Gridl spoke at the opening panel and at a focus panel on data governance. Furthermore, he met with several high-level representatives of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Ministry of Economy, and the Institutional Security Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil.

The 8th Brazilian Innovation Week

The Brazilian Innovation Week is considered the largest forum on government innovation and digitalisation in Latin America. It is co-organised by the Ministry of Economy (ME) and the National School of Public Administration (ENAP). Every year, it brings together leading experts and public officials to exchange on experiences with innovative technologies, methods, and processes to improve Brazilian public services.

In 2022, the Innovation Week was held from 8 to 10 August in a hybrid format. It included virtual and onsite events in Brasília, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro. This year's edition followed the motto “It's time to create”, focusing on the promotion of disruptive ideas in public administration beyond post-pandemic recovery.

International perspectives on the digitalisation of public services

With the title “Digital Government and Real World: Relationship with the Citizens”, the opening panel brought together experts from Brazil, Germany, Uruguay, and Rwanda. They included Fernando Coelho, Brazilian Secretary of Digital Government, Jean-Philbert Nsengimana, former Rwandan Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Morgan Doyle, Resident-Coordinator at the InterAmerican Development Bank in Brazil, and Karime Ruibal, Director of Citizen Services at the Uruguayan Agency for Digital Governance and Information Society. Dr Gridl pointed to the positive experiences of other countries to reinforce the need for truly digital, integrated, and innovative services.

Additionally, Dr Gridl spoke at the focus panel “Data Governance and Safe Recognition of the Citizens”, organised by the Secretariat of Digital Government (SGD/ME). Daniela Menezes, General-Coordinator for Data Governance at SGD/ME, moderated the panel. It included keynote remarks from Dr Gridl and Enrique Zapata, Coordinator for Data Intelligence, Govtech and Open Administration at the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).

In his remark, Dr Gridl highlighted the importance of the digitalisation of public services, especially in the German case, where the demand for work is expected to increase over the next years. Digitalisation can facilitate the access to public services. In response to questions from the public, Dr Gridl gave an overview of the German Data Strategy which aims for a secure and strong data governance in order to advance sustainable growth and facilitate innovation.

BMDV delegation met high-ranking representatives of Brazilian ministries

In addition, the German-Brazilian Digital Dialogue organised meetings between Dr Gridl and officials from the Brazilian government during his time in the Brazilian capital.

He held constructive conversations with representatives from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Ministry of Economy, and the Institutional Security Cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic. The officials used the opportunity to share best practices in digital transformation and discuss possibilities for German-Brazilian cooperation in the digitalisation of public services and innovation management.