Digital transformation at the service of Brazil

I have dedicated the last 30 years to entrepreneurship in the private sector. I had the privilege of studying in the United States (Harvard and Duke) at a time when the Internet was emerging there. Thus, I could see opportunities and be one of the pioneers of this technology in Brazil, creating, developing and investing in a series of innovative companies in the IT area. Among them the STI, the hpG, the Maber, the 123i and several others. I did this through WebForce Ventures, which I founded in 2000 and which has become one of the country's leading digital investment holding companies.

In 2019, I was challenged by Minister Paulo Guedes to apply in the public service the skills perfected over these decades. Be creative, agile and generate results that really impact positively and simplify the lives of Brazilians. Whatever your journey in interaction with the State, GOV.BR would be there, for the fulfillment of duties or the request for rights. How could workers, entrepreneurs, retirees, students, rural producers, drivers, mothers and public servants be impacted by digital technologies to simplify and lighten the relationship between State and citizen, generating satisfaction and trust between the parties?

First as president of Serpro, the largest public IT service provider in the country, and since August of this year as special secretary for Debureaucratization, Management and Digital Government at the Ministry of Economy, I have been surprised every day by the capacity of the public servants to respond to the challenges we pose of transforming government through digital, offering increasingly better, simple and accessible services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in the palm of Brazilians' hands.

Services needed by tens of millions of people, such as obtaining the digital work card, the digital transit card, the international vaccination certificate, emergency aid, maternity pay, retirement and enrollment in Enem, the registration of agreements collective work, accessible digital signatures, among many others. In 2020, we managed to digitally transform an average of more than 3 public services every two days.

The digital transformation movement that the government has been undertaking since last year, and has accelerated in recent months, represents a huge change in culture and is a path of no return, capable of putting the country where it really deserves to be, bringing more quality of life, attracting investment and fostering innovation in the various sectors of the economy. Our efforts have already brought international recognition, with the UN ranking the country among the 20 best in the world in the provision of digital public services.

In addition to the direct benefits to citizens, especially those who most need support, the government's digital transformation work is committed to making the country a favorable place to invest, innovate and undertake. This is the case of the Startups Legal Framework, recently presented to Congress, and of the Economic Freedom Act, which has already brought several advances in the way of extinguishing unnecessary requirements and facilitating the opening of companies, including the possibility of automatic registration for the vast majority of them. 

We are on the right track, but there is still much to do. That's why we can't stop for a single day. There are many important goals to be pursued for Brazil to overcome the delay and get where we want: with an efficient, digital State, with committed public servants, less bureaucracy and more focus on the citizen. At the moment, we are working hard on two actions that will bring about structural changes in this regard: administrative reform and the implementation of the citizen's universal digital identity.

The administrative reform will be able to modernize the public machine, with the optimization of resources and the production of more adequate stimuli to improve the quality of the services provided. It's management in the veins. Digital identity, on the other hand, represents an enormous potential for savings and business opportunities. It will be a powerful tool for the inclusion of the most vulnerable, allowing a more accurate identification of those citizens who really need the optimization of public policies. In addition, the security provided by digital identity will substantially reduce expenses and losses generated by fraud and leaks.

We live at an inflection point generated by the opportunities that technology is offering us. We can't waste this chance anymore. Therefore, I call for our entrepreneurs to participate in the construction of this new moment in Brazil. I'm sure we will overcome the delay. 

Caio Mario Paes de Andrade is a serial entrepreneur in information technology and real estate. He has a degree in Social Communication from Universidade Paulista, a postgraduate degree in Management from Harvard University and a master's degree in Business Administration from Duke University. He is the founder and advisor of the Make It Happen Institute. In 2019, it moved from the private sector to the public sector with the mission of helping Brazil's digital transformation. He was President of SERPRO until August 2020, when he assumed the Special Secretary for Debureaucratization, Management and Digital Government.