Brazilian Vice Minister of Science and Technology Meets NIA President
Brazilian Vice Minister of Science and Technology Meets NIA President
2011.10.05
COUNT 1681
| On October 5, 2011, the Vice Minister of Science and Technology of Brazil, Dr. Virgilio Almeida, visited NIA together with the Brazilian Ambassador to Korea and met with NIA President, Seang-Tae Kim to discuss ICT cooperation projects between the two countries. During the meeting that lasted for more than an hour, the Vice Minister followed previous meetings and discussions and mentioned that although Brazil || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s ICT industry and network infrastructure is rapidly expanding and getting better, challenges still remain in that the country is very big in terms of land and people and infrastructure coverage is not an easy task. NIA President Kim acknowledged the Vice Minister || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s points and suggested that a way to address this is to start small by tackling social issues through ICT solutions and begin with necessary pilot projects and upgrading from there. He also went on to add that one area that Korea has succeeded at and one he suggests that Brazil take up and that is institutional building in the ICT sector in the country. The Vice Ministers agreed with the necessity of institutional building in Brazil but it is a different model from Korea and not easy to accomplish in the country. The Vice Minister went on to add that there are some success cases in Brazil, namely, online tax services made available to Brazilians as well as e-voting as well. A couple big events are on the horizon, which make ICT take on more importance is the upcoming World Cup to be held in Brazil in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both of these events will be broadcast around the world so it is necessary to have a robust and upgraded network and telecommunication infrastructure in place in order to accommodate and broadcast these two events. Korea will also have to address this as well as it readies itself to host and broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang so there are some areas where both countries can cooperate and help each other as both countries prepare to hold these popular events in their respective countries. Both NIA President Kim and Brazilian Vice Minister Almeida agreed that further cooperation will be needed and they both looked forward to collaboration in the future in order that both countries || chr(39) || || chr(39) || citizens and society will benefit.  Dr. Virgilio Almeida, hold discussions at NIA headquarters  |