Brazil ranks 69th among the most innovative economies in the world, according to the Global Innovation Index 2016. Recently published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the survey evaluated 128 countries and showed that, even though it ranked eighth in percentage of technology transfer and 17% in R&D spending of large companies, our country is still far from the big global players in innovation, mainly due to the low rate of transformation of research in commercial application.

At the opening of the second day of the RNP Forum, the president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC), Helena Nader, presented the reality and challenges of Brazilian science, based on this survey. See below the president's analysis of Brazil's role in the global R&D scenario.

What are the main strengths of Brazilian science when talking about innovation?

When there were permanent and structured investments in R&D, Brazilian science showed excellent results in innovation. Brazil has become a world leader in the detection and exploration of deep-sea oil. Investments in education and science with the creation of ITA (Aeronautical Technological Institute) led to the growth of aeronautical engineering, placing Embraer as the third largest manufacturer of aircraft in the world. In agribusiness, Brazil is a world leader in the production and export of grains, including soybeans, tropical fruits, and one of the world's leading exporters in livestock and poultry farming. Another more recent example was the response of Brazilian science to the diagnosis and relation of zika virus to microcephaly in fetuses of infected mothers, as well as the production of vaccines, including dengue virus.

What about the main issues faced?

Science, technology and innovation in the country face many problems, ranging from financing to lack of understanding of regulatory milestones, both by civil society and by control bodies. Currently, we have a new legal framework that can positively impact the TC&I agenda, especially in the relationship between the public and private sector, between universities, research institutions and technology-based companies. In addition to being unstable, funding for R&D activities in Brazil is at a very low level: about 1.05% of GDP, when it should be close to 2%, as in countries with a similar economy to Brazil. Still, there is a need for a robust policy that articulates scientific and technological development with the industrial.

How can we try to resolve these issues for Brazil to innovate more?

It is not enough to have efforts from academia and industry to collaborative projects. We need to have a development policy that defines the industries in which we want to grow and how much we are going to need investments for it. This has been the case with oil, aeronautics and agribusiness. And this is a global model. Considering, for example, that South Korea's auto and electronics industries have become global, because this was a country's decision, with the participation of government, industry and academia. Hyundai, Kia, LG and Samsung did not arise just because the market wanted. There was a Korean macroeconomic policy decision.

How RNP can help further contribute to the country's R&D environment?

By definition, RNP is an instrument to contribute to R&D environment in Brazil. Information and communication technologies have perhaps a unique feature: they are in themselves innovative and at the same time indispensable for all sectors to innovate as well. Understanding that ICT is in the form and content of RNP, my expectation is that the organization will continue to expand its activities and services to the science and technology community in the country. A good method to measure the importance of something is to think how we would be if it no longer exists. The national science and technology system without RNP is unthinkable. So we hope for an ever stronger and more active organization.