A new legal framework from the area of science, technology and Innovation (ST&I), the Congressional Law Project (PLC) 77/2015, was approved by the Plenary of the Federal Senate on December 9 and heads on for presidential approval. The text, which promotes a series of actions for the encouragement of Research and scientific and technologic development, received unanimous vote in the Plenary.

"Today was a great day for science, technology and Innovation in Brazil”, Minister Celso Pansera, who qualified the voting of PLC 77 as a milestone in the advancement of the area, evaluated. “It makes legislation not only more complete, but also more agile, and allows a clearer definition of what is a research center, what is a technological pole, but particularly governs the relation of the research institutes linked to the public teaching institutions, to the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation, to the states, with private initiative."

Created by congressional representative Bruno Araújo (PSDB-PE), the proposal governs the Constitutional Amendment 85 and is one of the items of “Agenda Brasil”, a set of measures presented by the Senate to boost the Country’s growth. “This approval symbolizes the contribution of the National Congress with the technological advantages that are essential to ensure competitiveness to the Brazilian industry”, President of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL) said. The proposition had as rapporteur senators Jorge Viana (PT-AC) and Cristovam Buarque (PDT-DF).

The proposal, which regulates long-term partnerships between the public and private sectors, gives greater flexibility of operation to the scientific, technologic and Innovation (STIs) institutions and the respective support Entities. One of the news is the possibility of waiver of bid, by public administration, in hiring innovative services or products from micro, small and medium sized companies. The proposal also amends Law 8,666/93 to set forth a new bidding waiver hypothesis, for the contraction of goods and services intended to research and development activities.  

Modernization

For the president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC), Helena Nader, the Country just took its first step towards modernity. She said that the approval is a good new, both for the scientific community and the business sector who wants to do science.

"This legislation was discussed with every segments, and it is what is going to put Brazilian science, technology and Innovation in the modern world. It makes it very clear that it a public-private partnership between universities and the productive sector is important and relevant, all in a transparent manner”, she commented.

In Helena’s evaluation, Brazil already has various legal parts that were not bad, but depended heavily on interpretations, which were giving rise to the assessment of research institutions and universities by the inspectors

She remembered that the first great change occurred with Amendment 85, in late 2014. “With the change in Constitution and the approval of this new law, we will know very clearly how the transparent partnership between the university, public initiative, research institutions and the business community takes place", she said. "This is what drove the United States to get to where they are. China has done it, in Korea this is a tradition, and in Brazil it was being interpreted wrongly.”

Unlocking

Minister Pansera foresees that the new legislation, when the Project is sanctioned, shall promote an “unlocking” of the area with a strong impact in the following years, boosting partnerships between the private initiative and the public sector. “It shall bring a guarantee to the companies that invest in Innovation, which tends to expand their investment in the area”, he noted.

In his view, the legal framework also gives more security to the government. “It knows now that the institutes, the research centers, the laboratories of the universities may dedicate themselves more to cutting-edge research, particularly that focused on the generation of products, equipment, food - in short, of wealth and employment, and leverage of Brazil as a world reference in the patent production area", he observed.

The head of the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation stressed the meetings with the president of the Senate and with the rapporteurs to ask for agility in the analysis and avoid changes in content, which would make the proposition return to the consideration of the House. "We explained the Importance of the Project to them and how it was important that there was no amendmenting ", he said. “Because it is fruit of the work of many years between the Brazilian Academy of Sciences [ABC], the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, well, the Brazilian scientists, with the Chamber of Deputies. This accumulation of ideas was reflected in the text. "

To Pansera, the voting ends 2015 “with a flourish” in the area of ST&I.

Source: Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation and Agência Senado

Photo: National Institute of Technology (INT / MCTI).