Opinion – Ronaldo Lemos: The Brazil that succeeds in innovation

Last week, Tadao Takahashi, a computer scientist who was one of the pioneers in the construction of the internet in Brazil, passed away. Tadao since 1989 had the vision and the daring that Brazil could connect to the global network. At that time, a telephone line in the country was a rare item, passed from father to son as an inheritance and rented by those who could not afford to buy one.

Tadao didn’t care about any of that and dreamed of a connected Brazil that he helped to build. When Eco-92 took place in Rio de Janeiro, international participants were amazed because they received e-mail addresses and were able to connect to the internet, something they could not easily do in their own countries in 1992. It was Brazil in the forefront.

That spirit of fearless innovation from Tadao remains. It materializes, for example, in the Lua programming language, created at the Tecgraf Institute at PUC in Rio de Janeiro. The largest public offering of shares of 2021, worth US$ 41 billion (R$ 194 billion), was for the game Roblox, scheduled on Lua. Other popular games like World of Warcraft also use Lua.

Structuring innovation also appears in the GoGoBoard developed by Paulo Blikstein, a Brazilian professor at Columbia University. It is a low-cost robotics teaching board that has managed to bring together several essential devices in one place. This plaque, which fits in the palm of the hand, has the potential to revolutionize the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in Brazil and globally. It is a Brazilian competitor for successful projects like Arduino and global companies like Lego.

More structuring innovation also appears in the Brazilian blockchain project called Hathor, developed by Marcelo Brogliato and his co-founders. Marcelo is a computer engineer graduated from the Instituto Militar de Engenharia and developed the project as part of a research project at the institution. The Brazilian blockchain won the world and solves cost and scalability problems that have become obstacles for the main networks.

There is also cutting-edge Brazilian innovation in the work of designers in the country such as the Porto Rocha office. Created by Leo Porto and Felipe Rocha, two young people who ventured to open the company in the competitive New York market. Despite its young age, the firm designed the corporate image for the cryptocurrency Solana, from Coinbase and works for brands such as the W hotel chain, Nike, Vevo, Airbnb and Quinto Andar. The competitive difference? Bet on a non-obvious, forward-looking design.

There is also the development of a “flying car” by the company EVE, created by Embraer. The company develops an eVTOL, an acronym for electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle. The idea is to use this type of vehicle to create a new mode of air transport in major global cities over the next ten years.

The examples of Brazilian innovation do not stop there. Even in such difficult times our country does not lose its ability to surprise. Connecting these different capabilities in order to formulate a structuring environment for further innovation from them is a goal that should be common. We lost Tadao Takahashi but his spirit still lives on among us.

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It’s over To think that Brazil cannot be innovative

Already Brazilian innovation happening even in difficult times

It’s coming Need to structure comprehensive and long-term thinking about innovation in the country