Representatives of supporting foundations from all over Brazil met in Brasilia between November 29 and December 1 for the 6th Confies National Congress. In 2023, the council, which brings together organizations that support higher education institutions and scientific and technological research, celebrates its 35th anniversary.
During the opening of the event at the Finatec/UnB Foundation, Antônio Fernando Queiroz, Confies chairman, pointed out that this is the first 100% face-to-face congress after the Covid-19 pandemic, and commented on the chosen theme: The Role of Support Foundations in the Access to Inclusion and Democratization of Science, Technology and Innovation in Brazil. "[...] not so long ago the world was put on hold. While we waited for some action to be taken, we witnessed many teaching and research institutions seriously suffering from a lack of financial and human resources. This is our invitation, or rather, Confies' invitation: to become stakeholders, essential players in the propagation of scientific knowledge that aggregates, brings people together, and, to paraphrase Cora Coralina, builds bridges and breaks down walls".
During the first day of the congress, the director of the Brazilian Institute of Information on Science and Technology (Ibict/MCTI), Tiago Braga, presented a project for strategic communication and the fight against disinformation in the country to the heads of support foundations. The concept is for the institutions to actively participate in the construction of the proposal, through Confies. The project foresees the creation of a platform to disseminate actions to fight disinformation and anti-scientific initiatives that are harmful to public health.
The official opening of the 6th Confies National Congress also relied on other participants. In his speech, CNPq's scientific director, Olival Freire Júnior, highlighted the role of support foundations in the production of knowledge. "[...] we say that 80% of knowledge in this country is being produced in public institutions. But we don't always say that such a model of producing scientific and technological knowledge would not be possible without the active involvement of support foundations." Fernando Peregrino, for many years the chairman of Confies and now Finep's chief of staff, argued that the lack of resources is no longer the "number one enemy" of science, but rather bureaucracy. "It's the bureaucracy that consumes 35% of the scientist's time with a tangle of laws that clash with each other and, in the end, it's science and the scientist who lose out."
Fiotec takes an active role during congress
Janaina Campos, Fiotec's Institutional Communication Manager, presented the strategies implemented by the institution at the Confies Communicators' Forum. The journalist discussed the Conecta Fiotec project, the internal podcast recently created by the team she leads.
Janaina said that the initiative is the product of an action plan developed at Fiotec after a survey revealed the difficulty its own professionals had in understanding the work of other teams, and of the institution itself, as a support foundation. "The idea was to provide in-house employees with knowledge first so that they would be aware of the fundamentals of what we do in the world of support foundations. After all, they are all spokespersons," she explained.
Also during the Communicators' Forum, Expedito Lira, Fiotec's Information Security coordinator, delivered a presentation on the importance of preventive measures within institutions.
On the closing day of the Congress, legal manager Marianna Magalhães chaired the panel "Update on aspects of Law 8.958 and issues related to scholarships", which dealt with the proposal for a bill to update the Support Foundations Law (Law No. 8.958/1994) - which regulates relations between foundations, federal higher education institutions (IFEs) and Scientific and Technological Institutions (ICTs).
Next, Evandro Maroni, Fiotec's Information Technology manager, led the workshop "Digital Disruption - Digital Transformation Strategies, AI, Data & Science". The manager highlighted the significant changes brought about by the integration of digital technologies into various parts of our lives, the so-called digital disruption.
For Evandro, it is essential that support foundations become aware of and adapt to this cultural change, a new situation. "Technology must be in the organization's living room, letting it take the lead," he said.
1st place in the 5th edition of the Good Management Practices for Support Foundations Award
Fiotec made it to the top of the ranking in a competition that rewards the best management practices implemented by support foundations. Janaina Campos received from the Confies chairman the 1st place diploma for the Conecta Fiotec project: the institutional podcast.
"It was very important to receive this award, as it recognizes a communication strategy that we believe in very strongly and that was embraced by all the participants. Easing the understanding of support foundations is part of what Confies was about at this event, which is the democratization of knowledge, and this has to happen from the inside out. I hope this good practice spreads," celebrated Fiotec's Institutional Communication manager.
Alongside Fiotec, 29 other scientific and technological projects managed by support foundations competed in 2022. The 2nd place prize was awarded to the Sustainable FEC Project, run by the Euclides da Cunha Foundation (FEC) in Rio de Janeiro. The Research Support Foundation (Funape), from Goiás, completed the podium with the PITT Platform Project.
With information from Confies portal.
