“The digital transformation we are promoting in Rio Grande do Sul goes beyond digitialising services. It's about rethinking the way the state relates to its citizens, based on data, interoperability and security. Learning from Estonia and Cybernetica's experience helps us accelerate this change in a structured and sustainable way.”
Yesterday, Cybernetica’s CEO Oliver Väärtnõu and Vice-Governor of Brazilian fifth most populous state – Rio Grande do Sul – Gabriel Souza signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance the state’s digital transformation.
The initiative to strike a strategic cooperation came from the state’s recognition of importance of swift e-governance solutions expected by the citizens, as well as the recognition of Cybernetica’s systemic approach to sustainable digital government solutions in Estonia.
The Vice-Governor noted that, with this cooperation, Rio Grande do Sul hopes to promote know-how and technology transfer as well as the implementation of innovative projects in fields of common interest and the expansion of markets in the ICT sector. “We are motivated to launch a fruitful cooperation in the field of e-governance, learning along the way from Cybernetica as the pioneer in the sphere,” the Vice-Governor added.
Gabriel also emphasized that this cooperation is another step of the state’s strategy to modernize public services, aligned with international practices of excellence in digital government. "Cybernetica is one of the world's leading companies in interoperability systems. When a citizen accesses a public service on the internet, that service must capture their data from other public services they have accessed in the past, making their lives easier and speeding up service. This integration of data—not only between state government bodies, but also between municipal bodies, town halls, the federal government and other Brazilian states—is a strategy that, in the future, could lead us to a system very similar to Estonia's", Gabriel explains.
According to Oliver Väärtnõu, several objectives and areas of cooperation have been defined that should serve as the basis for future endeavours. “When we entered the Brazilian market as an alliance with our good partner Valid, our goal was to make an impact on all levels of government, be it on a Federal, State or Municipal level. In 1,5 years, Rio Grande do Sul is the second state we are honoured to work with in the biggest Latin American country. We are excited to advise the state on best practices of interoperability and digital identity, which make up the most important components of efficient e-governance,” Väärtnõu said.
Cybernetica’s team is set to advise and support the identification of the best concept of digital identity, as well as on the legal framework for e-government, build awareness on cybersecurity and interoperability solutions, and more to foster cooperation between ICT companies and universities to advance the know-how and implementation of e-services.
The Secretary of Planning, Governance and Management of Rio Grande do Sul, Danielle Calazans, who leads the state government's digital strategy, said that "the digital transformation we are promoting in Rio Grande do Sul goes beyond digitialising services. It's about rethinking the way the state relates to its citizens, based on data, interoperability and security. Learning from Estonia and Cybernetica's experience helps us accelerate this change in a structured and sustainable way."
Cybernetica’s strides in Brazil see successful outcomes since late 2023. Then, Cybernetica and Brazilian tech giant Valid began a strategic partnership to deploy the secure interoperability and data exchange platform UXP as a foundation for the Brazilian digital society. The most recent implementation of UXP dates back to May 2024, when the technology was set to be deployed in one of Brazil’s largest northern states in cooperation with Valid.
