Technology Parks are Vital to Brazilian Competitiveness, Says Report

A new report released in conjunction with the Fourth International Competitive Brazil Congress gives a positive assessment of the country's potential as a leader in life sciences and provides useful model for competitiveness assessments in other regions. The report, Mechanisms of Innovation and Competitiveness, was prepared by the Center for the Support of Technology Development at the University of Brasilia and coordinated by the five-year-old Competitive Brazil Movement (Movimento Brasil Competitivo, MBC).

 

Five science and technology parks were selected for analysis in order to collect data on the progress of Brazilian innovation over the course of two years. During the study, the MBC developed an assessment methodology that can be applied to evaluate the potential of an environment to foster innovation and improve regional competitiveness. This model, based on previous studies by the U.S. Council on Competitiveness in North Carolina and Mexico, relies on several categories of high-tech competitiveness indicators including:

• Business Environment;
• Regulation System;
• Regional Knowledge and Human Capital;
• S&T Park Governance;
• Networks and Strategy;
• Entrepreneurial-support Infrastructure; and,
• Finance and Venture Capital System.

Currently, 42 science and technology parks operate within the country, the strongest of which are located in the southeast region. According to the study, most of these parks have talented administrators and a wealth of quality researchers. However, these resources have not yet led to a large number of technology-based businesses. The life sciences sector is expanding, but entrepreneurs and researchers have had difficulty contending with the lack of venture capital in the country, unclear intellectual property regulations, the high cost of starting a business, and poor infrastructure.

 

In order to address these issues, the study provides several recommendations for Brazilian competitiveness strategies, including:

• Launch new efforts to share best practices within S&T parks;
• Increase investments in technologies that increase the Brazilian quality of life
• Create centers of excellence to catalyze promising research;
• Improve cooperation between university placement offices and private sector HR departments; and,
• Foster partnerships between university researchers and private companies.

Merck & Co. Inc. financed much of the study, which also recommends that the approval timeline for new products through the National Health Surveillance Agency be shortened.

 

Read Mecanismos de Inovao e Competitividade at:

http://www.inovacao.unicamp.br/report/news-curtissimas060710_mecanismos-novacao-competitividade.pdf

('Presentation' section is in English and Portuguese)



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