Fiotec reaches 2024 celebrating its 26 years of existence. Its history began in the last century, in 1998, when it was originally established as Fensptec, in support of the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health (Ensp/Fiocruz). In 2002, the organization became Fiotec, a foundation that supports the entire set of Fiocruz units.

A support foundation is created to assist scientific and technological research institutions, as well as Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IFEs), in the execution of their projects and programs. Fiotec, in turn, operates exclusively in shared management with Fiocruz, financially, logistically and administratively supporting the teaching, research, institutional, scientific and technological development, production of consumables and services, information and management initiatives implemented by the Foundation.

In practical terms, Fiotec's role is to carry out the bureaucratic processes necessary for the development of these projects. The institution is responsible for managing resources for research and studies, signing contracts with funders and partner institutions, purchasing consumables and products for projects, and often hiring professionals who will work on its most varied fronts throughout Brazil. This work allows Fiocruz and its researchers to carry out, in the best possible way, the technical part of the projects. The fieldwork, the laboratory routine, is performed by the professionals of the public institution that is a reference in health and technology in Latin America.

Fiotec today

In 2023, the year that marked the beginning of a new management in the institution’s Board, Fiotec began its Participatory Strategic Planning (Pepar), in a new cycle scheduled until 2027. The work, which involves all the institution's management and teams, aims to put into practice the guidelines defined for its performance in the coming years: organizational development; innovation and entrepreneurship; and national and international cooperation.

The management led by Cristiane Sendim set as goals the elaboration of a strategic plan to support the management of Fiocruz, in addition to the improvement of the communication maintained with the Foundation. Fiotec is also working on structuring a system that ensures its performance in line with the concepts of Integrity and Compliance.

Since the Covid pandemic, Fiotec has received a growing volume of new projects and, consequently, resources for these research and studies. This new reality led the institution to shift towards internationalization, following the international growth of Fiocruz itself. For this reason, today Fiotec invests in innovation and entrepreneurship, through initiatives to attract new partnerships and investment in science, technology and innovation projects. A major goal in this regard is the constitution and operationalization of the Fiocruz Innovation Fund, a project that will enhance the Foundation's performance, bringing benefits to the Brazilian population and to our Unified Health System (SUS).