Tablets take over the Esplanade.
Ministers, such as Alexandre Padilha, and parliamentarians, such as Sarney Filho and Acelino Pop, are inseparable from their devices.
Rodolfo Borges_247, from Brasília – In the week that the Ministry of Health launched the national influenza vaccination campaign, Minister Alexandre Padilha changed his Twitter avatar and background to match the mobilization and, soon after President Dilma Rousseff was vaccinated, he was already filling the microblog with his #photographicmoment posts and answering internet users' questions about vaccine administration. All done from his iPad. It is also on the tablet that Padilha, one of the most active tweeters in the Esplanada dos Ministérios (government ministries area), reads newspapers and consults support material for his public agendas organized throughout the country. And tablets are not only making life easier for the Minister of Health in Brasília. Starting with the President of the Republic.
As Brasil 247 has already reported, Dilma carries her tablet everywhere she goes, and the device is always in the care of her personal advisor, Anderson Braga Dornelles. The advisor is responsible for downloading editions of The Economist and books purchased from Amazon. More tech-savvy, the Minister of Communications, Paulo Bernardo, reads all newspapers on his iPad. "So as not to get my hands dirty," he jokes. When he has a trip planned, Bernardo downloads all available editions in advance to read during the flight. Another tablet enthusiast is the Minister of Science and Technology, Aloizio Mercadante, who keeps on his device a presentation by Taiwanese businessman Terry Gou about Foxconn's plans to install an iPad factory in Brazil by the end of the year.
In the National Congress, the list is long. It's rare to be received in a parliamentarian's office without finding a tablet on their desk, and there are at least four iPads (definitely the most popular tablet in Congress) per meeting in parliamentary committees, in the hands of deputies or advisors. Those who don't have one keep an eye on their colleague's device. There is no survey on the number of devices in the Houses, but the Senate is already preparing to offer internet access to parliamentarians' iPads. Deputy Sarney Filho (MA), leader of the PV party, is one of those enjoying a honeymoon period with his tablet, recently purchased and shared with his family.
Senator Álvaro Dias (PSDB-PR) resisted as much as he could, but succumbed to family pressure and decided to buy his own device. Jean Wyllys (PSol-RJ) updates his microblog via iPad, and Manuela D'Ávila (PCdoB-RS) has become known for never being separated from her tablet. “It has become an indispensable tool,” Congressman Mendonça Prado (DEM-SE), president of the Public Security Commission, told Brasil 247, explaining the device's popularity. “I take it everywhere. I use it to follow the legislative process, which is entirely computerized. From wherever I am, I can send it to my office. My advisors send the information by email, and I type the official document. This speeds up the procedures,” says Prado, who made a point of buying the device in his own state to avoid high taxes there.
The congressman from Sergipe supports the Brasil 247 campaign for the reduction of taxes on electronics in the country, which began last week along with columnist Felipe Neto. “Our tax system is complex, and one of the negative consequences of this is the increase in the final price of goods. I am totally in favor of reducing taxes that impede access to information, which is fundamental. Brazilian citizens need to have this access facilitated,” he argues. The government is studying classifying tablets as notebooks for taxation purposes, which would reduce the price of the devices by 30%, but the Federal Revenue Service is still resisting the change.
While prices remain high, those who can afford to buy are taking advantage. But not everything is rosy in a congressman's relationship with his iPad. Newcomer Acelino "Popó" Freitas (PRB-BA) experienced firsthand the risks of being glued to his tablet. "I posted on Facebook that I was in the Plenary and someone commented on my page: 'go to work, you bum'. Since then I leave the iPad in my office," says Popó. Now vaccinated against this, the former boxer limits himself to announcing his whereabouts on social media.