RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – How can an organization start with three companies and forty employees and become a group of 300 companies and institutions with more than 9,000 employees, 800 of which are entrepreneurs?
The answer lies in the development of public policies, bringing the academy and the market closer together, including society, talent, creativity, innovation, and technology.
This revolutionary and transformative system has a name: Porto Digital — Parque Tecnológico (Digital Port — Technological Park) and is located in the city of Recife, capital of Pernambuco.
Porto Digital results from a public policy, backed by municipal, state and federal legislation, which aims to include the state of Pernambuco in the technological and innovative world scenario, through an investment of R$33 million (US$8.25 million) in state government funds to implement the infrastructure and begin its operation.
The Núcleo de Gestão do Porto Digital (Digital Port Management Center, NGPD) was established, a non-profit civil association classified as a Social Organization (OS) by the Government of Pernambuco and the City of Recife (PCR), to introduce the governance model and the structuring projects.
The NGPD also develops training projects for youths and professionals of companies located in the Porto Digital territory and provides tools to promote the community’s social integration.
The park has three business incubatot centers, two business accelerators, six research institutes, government departments, a higher education institution, the C.E.S.A.R School, an initiative of the C.E.S.A.R.-Center for Advanced Studies and Systems of Recife, twice ranked the best science and technology institution in Brazil and a branch in the mid-sized city of Caruaru, two hours inland from Recife.
The group of companies that form Porto Digital, in Bairro do Recife, had a turnover of R$1.7 billion in 2017 and attracted dozens of companies from other Brazilian states and several multinationals and technology centers.
The goal for 2020 is to have 20,000 people working in Porto Digital and expand its location to the neighborhoods of Santo Amaro, Santo Antônio, and São José.
A further interesting fact is that the architectural heritage of the Recife neighborhood has been allocated R$90 million in investments for urban redevelopment, with a wide range of styles, merging the colonial, eclectic, industrial, and modern.
The secret for a more developed, comprehensive, and human Latin America lies in the active involvement of the public sector and society together with private initiative.
Porto Digital is a remarkable illustration that sectors such as Information and Communication Technology, Creative Economy, and technologies for cities can change a state and even the world.
In Porto Digital, Mr. Plot is exporting its talent around the world by producing audiovisual works and establishing itself as a manufacturing plant for experiences through the production of musical content for children.
Mundo Bita is the studio’s first animation, shown on TV channels such as Discovery Kids, Netflix, Playkids and has more than 500 million views on YouTube.