On November 9th, the webinar “Brazil-Sweden cooperation success cases” took place, marking the start of the 10th Annual Meeting. With the participation of Joselito Henriques from Akaer, Rafael Bertochi from Suzano and moderation by Heloisa Menezes, another CISB initiative was a success promoting high-level discussions.
On November 9th, the webinar “Brazil-Sweden cooperation success cases” took place, marking the start of the 10th Annual Meeting. With the participation of Joselito Henriques from Akaer, Rafael Bertochi from Suzano and moderation by Heloisa Menezes, another CISB initiative was a success promoting high-level discussions.
Alessandra Holmo, executive director of CISB, opened the seminar presenting the guests and the agenda for this year’s edition of the Annual Meeting, which promoted a series of webinars on research and innovation in various sectors.
The economist and founder of Flow Consultoria em Inovação e Gestão, Heloisa Menezes, started the debate by emphasizing the importance of collaboration between Brazil and Sweden, especially in pandemic times, when innovation processes happen more quickly. She also emphasized the fundamental role of the CISB in facilitating international cooperation and the connection between organizations from the two countries that are in different innovation ecosystems.
Joselito Henriques, director of research, development and innovation at Akaer Engineering, said that cooperation with Sweden is of great importance for Brazil. It is a pleasure to cooperate with Sweden, and we have a lot to learn from a nation that ranks second inGlobal Innovation Index. “Forming an applied research network involving the triple-helix at an international level brings exponential results, hardly possible to be achieved when working in isolation, those who manage to create these connections end up leading the way”.
Although Brazil is far from Sweden in the innovation ranking, in the aeronautics field, the country is one of the world leaders. In this area, both countries cooperate as equals in technology, but the whole Brazilian innovation process requires a lot more energy from their team when compared to the Swedish team.
As for the company’s success stories, Henriques mentioned that Gripen is Akaer’s largest joint project with Sweden. “AKAER entered the Gripen project four years before Brazil decided to buy it. We are proud of this, as it shows the technical competence of the company, and with the arrival of it in Brazil, we are honored by the fact that the project was a success for Brazil, ”said the Akaer representative.
Rafael Bertochi, Senior Researcher for Processes and Pulp at Suzano, pointed out that the partnership between the company and Sweden has been around for ten years and yet, it is possible to see the need for this collaboration more and more. When asked about the internationalization of companies, Bertochi said that financial difficulties hinder the innovation process in Brazil and once again, the partnership with Sweden is necessary. “Brazil falls short when it comes to support research and startups, especially when compared to the Swedish government’s funding fund for these purposes, a big difference is noticeable.” said the Suzano representative.
Among the main results of the partnerships with Sweden, Bertochi, who specialized in Industrial Management, pointed out that Suzano has an innovative stance that seeks agility so the results appear more quickly. “We seek innovation, mainly in more sustainable technologies at a lower cost, and startups have played a fundamental role in this search. We are proud of the development of these partnerships and for having built the largest eucalyptus plant in the world, which will soon be overtaken by ourselves. It is worth mentioning that today it is possible to extract about 50% of eucalyptus pulp and that the entire Suzano forest park is planted, something that contributes to sustainability ”.
Agility, simplicity and methodology were some of the greatest lessons that Joselito Henriques learned from partnerships with swedes. “It is something that we definitely have to use as an example. Another very important thing is the need for friendlier incentives for companies. Investment must reach the industry, which is where innovation really happens. ” declared Akaer’s Director of R & D + I.
“I share the optimistic view that with each stimulus that is given to this ecosystem, excellent results are generated. Talking about learnings requires knowledge to be able to apply it, both in current and future cooperation, aiming at development and a better reality for the countries involved ”concluded Heloisa Menezes, at the end of the discussion.
To watch the full webinar, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9th6tVJawk&t=18s
