Brazilian government advances IoT plan
The Brazilian government has signed a deal with the national development bank to carry out a study on opportunities around Internet of Things (IoT).
A consortium composed of consulting firm McKinsey & Company, law firm Pereira Neto/Macedo and research institute CPqD will be responsible for the execution and delivery of the study within a nine-month timeframe.
The material from the study will be then used as the foundation of a national IoT plan, which has a planned launch for the second half of 2017.
The study will cost R$17,4 million ($5,1 million), R$ 9,8 million ($2,8 million) of which will be funded by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) and the remainder by the consortium responsible for the creation of the study.
According to a report by Accenture from earlier this year, Brazil ranks at the bottom of a list of several countries worldwide in terms of its ability to generate economic impact from technologies based on the IoT environment.
A more recent paper published by Qualcomm, there are many interesting IoT projects going on in Brazil, particularly in the security area within the public sector, but only 80 out of 300 municipalities that have started some kind of initiative in the area are implemented in some form.
But it appears that the federal government recognizes the potential of IoT and wants to take advantage of the opportunities presented by related technologies: according to an IDC study commissioned by the Brazilian Association of Software Companies, the segment should generate $4,1 billion in Brazil this year.
Last year, the government created an initial group focused on defining guidelines for IoT research and development activities as well as business-related initiatives and the connection of isolated projects that are currently going on across the country.
Public consultation will be carried out around the IoT study and contributions from citizens and input can be given online until January 16.
See also
The scope for the debate is vast and covers research hurdles, the current state of the technology in Brazil, security and privacy, as well as 17 areas where IoT technologies can potentially bring improvements, including agriculture, health, infrastructure, retail smart cities, telecoms and logistics.