“The event proved the importance of ABPI’s sectional representations. It is a day that will go down in the history of the association”, said Maria Inez de Araújo Abreu, ABPI’s Secretary and coordinator of the Sectional Representations, at the end of the 5th ABPI North/Northeast Representation Event. The online round table addressed public policies in ST&I in Brazil’s North-Northeast regions. It was organized by Rodrigo Moraes, Ticiano Gadelha, Wagner Robério Barros Gomes, and Branca Alves, with an opening by the President of ABPI, Gabriel Leonardos. “ABPI is a Brazilian entity that is fulfilling its role of spreading the IP discipline throughout Brazil”, added Moraes, ABPI’s sectional representative in Bahia.
With seven panels and 16 presentations given by experts from different areas, the 5th ABPI Representations Event left an aftertaste of wanting more. In the first panel, named “Vitória Régia”, the professor of Constitutional Law at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and Public Prosecutor André Batista Neves started a debate that prioritized the integration of the North/Northeast region in Brazil’s development, either with greater or lesser State participation. What is the best option? “The exit is in the middle”, taught Neves. “Between greater intervention and greater incentive to the private sector, not dogmatic but pragmatic, the choice must be made with an eye on the sector that is to be developed, mainly considering the cultural, economic and demographic diversity of the North/Northeast”.
The event’s panels, which had titles suggestive of the North/Northeast ecosystem, gained in diversity with the multidisciplinary profile of the speakers. The second and third panels were dedicated to the debate on the role of the productive sector in regional development. At the “Mandacaru” panel, the speakers were Evandro Mazo, from the Evaldo Lodi Institute (IEL) in Bahia, linked to the National Confederation of Industry (CNI); Daniela Guedes, from the Pernambuco Economic Development Agency (ADEPE); and Professor Morganna Tito, a coordinator of communities in the state of Paraíba. At the “Urucum” panel, which ended the morning activities, the debate brought together lawyer Ricardo Bacelar Paiva; Sheila de Souza Corrêa de Melo from Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation of the state of Paraná; and Noélia Lúcia Simões Falcão, from the Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research.
In the afternoon, the first two panels were dedicated to discussing the role of government and public policies in regional development. The “Aroeira” panel had the participation of Viviane Gomes Almeida from the BPTO in Bahia; Antonio Carvalho from the Maceió Innovation Council; and Rafael Dubeux, Recife’s Secretary of Economic Development, Science, Technology, and Innovation. The “Aloe-Vera” panel brought together Francilene Garcia from the Brazilian National Council of State Secretaries for Science, Technology, and Innovation (Consecti); and Handerson Leite from the Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation of the government of Bahia (SECTI).
The penultimate panel, “Coco-da-Praia”, was dedicated to the involvement of the academic sector in the innovation process and the role to be played by the government and the private sector. The following speakers participated in the panel: Cristina Quintela, from the Graduate Program in Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer for Innovation (Profnit) of the Federal University of Bahia, and Gesil Sampaio, from Fortec. At the “Jambu” panel, which marked the event closing, the presentation was by Pierre Lucena from Porto Digital. Lucena’s presentation addressed the technology park, which completes 22 years of existence and brings together companies, public agencies, and universities, including 355 organizations and more than 15 thousand employees.
