Cefor discusses solutions for developing Porto Alegre.

Porto Alegre City Council - The path to development for Porto Alegre involves streamlining public processes and a change in mindset that transcends political disputes. This is the conclusion reached by entrepreneurs and representatives of the City Hall who participated in a meeting of the Committee on Economy, Finance, Budget and Mercosur (Cefor) of the City Council on Tuesday morning (August 20).

According to José Cesar Martins, entrepreneur and member of the Cite project (Community, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship), the capital city needs to follow examples like that of San Francisco (USA), which invested in technology and innovative management and today reaps the rewards of sustainable development.

One of the highlights of this public management model is the so-called open data, the opening of public data creating a kind of e-government, through which public information is made available and used by citizens. "In October, the creator of this system, Gavin Newsom, will be in Porto Alegre." Newsom was twice mayor of San Francisco and is currently the lieutenant governor of California.

The municipal secretary of Governance, Cézar Busatto, said that the biggest obstacle to the development of the capital and Rio Grande do Sul as a whole is the attachment to outdated ideas and political disputes. "We need to change our mindset. We are averse to innovation, stuck in our roots, and arrogant. We think too highly of ourselves," said the secretary.

Busatto agreed that it is necessary to generate "collaborative environments" like those proposed by Cite, using the city of San Francisco as an example. "Cite's initiative, with its inclusive approach, is already a great achievement in starting to reverse the old agendas that stifle the city."

Fast track

The president of Cefor, councilman Valter Nagelstein (PMDB), agreed that innovation and the search for new paradigms in politics and public administration are fundamental for Porto Alegre to develop sustainably. He added that a concrete action in this regard could be the creation of a "fast track" for processing applications for the installation of technology-focused companies in the city.

"Since the 1970s we have seen a process of deindustrialization in the capital. We need to attract cutting-edge industries here, such as those in biotechnology, electronic components, and nanotechnology," the councilman emphasized. According to Nagelstein, public bureaucracy today is disconnected from technological evolution, and the City Council can contribute by approving projects that encourage and facilitate the arrival of companies to the capital. "The Technological Potential Regions (Repot) project is in the House and I intend to have it voted on by the end of the year," he informed.

Text: Marco Aurélio Marocco

Edited by: Claudete Barcellos