Workshop on data governance at the Brazilian Internet Forum

An increasingly digitalised economy relies on data as a central resource for value creation. Emerging technology applications bear the potential to increase productivity and innovation but require a steady flow of productive data. How can data be provided and regulated?

Together with the Brazilian Industrial Internet Association (ABII), the Digital Dialogues organised a workshop at the Brazilian Internet Forum which focused on the topic of data governance. The invited panellists discussed possible approaches to data governance as well as adequate digital infrastructure for a data-based economy.

Perspectives from different sectors

The workshop adopted a multistakeholder approach with speakers from the private, public and scientific sector and the civil society. Claudio Goldbach, Director of ABII, and Andreas Weiss, Head of Digital Business Models from the German Association of the Internet Industry (Eco), represented the private sector.

As for the public and scientific sectors, they were represented by Miriam Wimmer, Director of the Brazilian National Authority on Data Protection (ANPD), and Danilo Angelo, Manager of Accounts and Research and Development at Eldorado Research Institute, respectively. The civil society representatives were Lorrayne Porciuncula, Executive Director at the Data Sphere Initiative, and Professor Gianni Ricciardi, Counselor of Innovation of GoNew.co.

The workshop was moderated by Luc Wüst, Advisor at the Secretariat for the German-Brazilian Digital Dialogue.

Discussing the data ecosystem in Brazil

During the session, the participants contributed different perspectives on the development of a data ecosystem in Brazil. They consensually agreed that applying international best practices in data governance can advance the development of a successful Brazilian model. Danilo Angelo underlined that Brazilian companies could easily share their data according to the European standards for data spaces since the regulations for data governance in Brazil and Europe are similar.

Lorrayne Porciuncula and Miriam Wimmer agreed that the national debate on data governance and data protection is still at an early stage. Claudio Goldbach shared the business perspective on data governance, suggesting the ownership of industrial data. According to him, data profits should be clearly defined in the data ecosystem.

Debates on data governance are necessary for a common understanding

The specialists experts agreed that adopting existing solutions would be beneficial to Brazil and Latin America. In this regard, Andreas Weiss and Professor Gianni Ricciardi mentioned the European Gaia-X initiative as an opportunity to increase interoperability and compliance to data regulation. Gaia-X has invited the Brazilian community to build a hub in Brazil.

The discussions showed that the complexity of the Brazilian regulatory environment, in addition to the high diversity of actors, can be challenging to the development of consolidated data governance models. Systematic debates about data governance, such as the one held at the 12th FIB, are pivotal to fostering a common understanding of the subject in Brazil.