The movement of the Innovation Ecosystem of Curitiba to promote Smart City actions, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
*The Vale do Pinhão Project is alligned with the UN SDG’s
The micro and small entrepreneurs, from conventional to high impact ones (startups) from Curitiba are being prepared to adopt a new business culture through an Entrepreneurial Training Journey. In the program the entrepreneurs learn to use the technology as a growth tool, to adopt more modern management, to share ideas and knowledge, working collaboratively as a strategy to the development of the creative economy. The Vale do Pinhão Good Business Program is the result of a reformulation of the City's business training program. It is the result of three months of collaborative work, in an action that mobilized several members of the city's innovation ecosystem, from universities to startups and public and private sector. "The process of building the new program involved 23 partners, including representatives from the City Hall, universities, development agencies, management specialists and the third sector," explains the president of the Curitiba Agency, Cris Alessi.
The mobilization of the entire ecosystem for the development of Vale do Pinhão - Good Business, it is already an innovation, showing that the collaborative work that is happening in the City is enabling the joint work of professional and specialists, many of them competitors in their areas, to think together an innovative way to develop entrepreneurship in Curitiba.
There are 9 public offices, in a partnership with SEBRAE (Brazilian Service to Support Micro and Small Enterprises), that provide guidance, advisory and consultancy to the population, helping on the process of becoming an entrepreneur or businessman.
Awarded with the Customer Service Reference (1 gold and 7 silver) in 2018.
Curitiba launched in 2017 as the first public coworking space in Brazil, with the essence of entrepreneurship and to promote innovative ideas. The first space, Worktiba Barigui has a focus on social entrepreneurship and the second, Worktiba Cine Passeio, on creative and cultural economy. The objective is to foment social entrepreneurship, the innovative ideas and its development, resulting in incomes, jobs and new investments within the city.
Public space to prototype and digital fabrication. It is open to the community, universities, companies to develop and share knowledge and projects, and will offer free courses of prototyping, 3D printing, Arduino, programming, among others. The Curitiba Fab Lab is a place to encourage the creativity and innovation within the city, sharing knowledge and local experiences, connecting to the worldwide network.
The program offers professional courses to young and adults, prioritizing people in social vulnerability, to allow access, permanence or return of the citizen to the job market.
The program encourages the woman in Curitiba to develop their own business, with guidance, support and training. The Woman Entrepreneur Award, connected to the program, rewards women who excelled in their businesses during the year and inspiring another woman.
An evolution of the former local public libraries, inaugurated in 1994, transformed into a makerspace. Spaces where the students of public schools have access to 3D impression and science engaging the new generation in the technological era.
These spaces promote and encourage the innovative and maker culture in the city, enriching the creation, collaboration, critical thinking and autonomy of the students.
The technology permeates all the other pillars, however, it deserves a special chapter when we discuss technologies as a base to the Smart Cities. This technology is being developed and implemented to facilitate the access of the population to the public services, to improve the digital infrastructure of the City. It is the anchor that supports and connects the citizens and the innovation ecosystem of the city.
The Speak Curitiba program, currently in its third edition, is a public consultation model that aims to actively participate in the construction of the budget pieces of the municipality - the Budget Guidelines Law and the Annual Budget Law. One of its structures is an online platform, with the objective of enabling the participation of any citizen and resident of Curitiba. The program strength is mobilizing the 75 neighbourhoods, reaching the entire city population.
The official applicative of the Curitiba City Hall. It encompasses the awarded Saúde Já (Healthcare Appointment App), the application that enables the scheduling of the first service at the Municipal Health Unit, avoiding queues, citizens medical and vaccination historic and prenatal follow-up for pregnant woman. The Curitiba App added new tools: the Central 156 app, to suggestions and complains; the Itibus system to consult the location of bus shelters, itineraries, timetable, bus card personal statement and the buses in real time. It also lists and guide about all the services of the City Hall, and informs about the events and news in real time. It is an app that concentrates all the information that the citizens of Curitiba need.
The transformation and reurbanisation of the city are based on humanity and sustainability, with the support of innovative solutions and technology. Curitiba grows offering opportunities and new possibilities to its citizen, with a focus on improving the quality of life of the city. The initiatives related to urban planning and development aim to tackle climate change.
The former industrial site is being transformed as an urban living lab, home to the Innovation Mill, where the Agência Curitiba is located, the anchor of the Vale do Pinhão. The objective is to transform the area through new land uses, activities related to technology and innovation. The neigborhood also works as a laboratory to test and implement pilot projects on urban planning, mobility and development. New solutions and ideas that can be replicated to the rest of the city.
The project to transform an area of irregular occupation in an ecologic and structured neighbourhood. The precarious houses and without access to public services will give place to social housing with water and sanitation, public transportation, public equipment and a park. The objective is to improve the quality of life of the dwellers, minimizing the risk areas in the city and preserving the environment and the watershed.
The program objectives are aware the population, in an creative and innovative way, about the whole chain of production and food cycle, encompassing since the farming process to environmental, social, educational and health questions. The program called Chef’s Garden encourages urban farmers to sell part of the production to restaurants in Curitiba. In a area of 4,435m² in Cajuru neighbourhood is being implemented the Urban Farm with the most modern planting models and using renewable energies – wind, solar and bioenergy – and reuse of raining water for irrigation. The spaces are complemented with Honey Gardens, to increase the bee population within the city to raise awareness of the population about the importance of bees in the planet biodiversity balance.
In this pillar, the ecosystem of innovation of Curitiba remains active, motivated and integrated. The stakeholders of this scenario are the Universities, the class entities, the public and private sector and companies with a focus on innovation and technology. The Vale do Pinhão support this pillar through forums, seminars, events, lectures and congresses to bring all the stakeholders, the entrepreneurial and innovation environment together.
A monthly event held in the Paiol Theatre in Curitiba, where 4 lecturers share with the public the challenges of entrepreneurship, from innovation and successful cases to solutions that improve people daily lives. Paiol Digital seeks the engagement of people connected to the world of Smart Cities, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, spreading the culture of innovation among the citizens. With this format, we create a networking environment and fostering actions aimed at the development of the city, people and business.
The biggest Smart City event in the world happened for the first time in Brazil in Curitiba 2018, thanks to the Vale do Pinhão movement. It brought more than 70 specialists and 80 startups to discuss ideas and solutions with 5,400 people visiting. The edition in 2019 had an increase of 25% of people participating, 6,700 visitors. The Expo is an important event to discuss urban innovation and the solutions to the future of the cities, based on technology and sustainability.
An entire month of events scattered across the City, to celebrate Curitiba 326 birthday last March. It encompassed more than 47 events totalizing 15,000 participants, 200 pitches, 10 public departments involved, 20 volunteers and 150 partners in the ecosystem of innovation.
For the first time in Curitiba, it was held a fair in XV Street, a famous pedestrian-only street in Curitiba. The public space hosted 14 startups sharing with the population new solutions to different problems, and pitches from the startups' representatives, social movements, creative economy sector and departments of the Curitiba City hall.
There is no smart development of the city without legal protection and support. The objective of this pillar of the Vale do Pinhão is to modernize the laws, reduce the bureaucratization of the processes and incentive the activities related to innovation and technology.
Approved by the City Council and sanctioned by the Mayor in 2018, the law has the objective to promote the innovation, scientific and technological researches in the productive environment, aiming to develop the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation in the city. It encourages the activities related to technology and science, improving the social and economic development and promote a sustainable, efficient and integrated city. The Municipal Council of Innovation, Science and Technology was formed with members from the public and private sector, and universities to monitor the implementation of policies, develop studies, projects and support the ecosystem of innovation.
A law that consolidates the support of the Curitiba City Hall for innovative entrepreneurs projects, attracting more business and foster the startup ecosystem of the city. The fund will have, in the beginning, R$ 10 million that can be used as resource, guarantee and subsidies to innovative and disruptive projects.
The program foments the development of companies and institutions of technology and science and disseminates the culture of knowledge and innovation in the city. It provisioned a reduction of the Tax on Services from 5% to 2% for the companies that invest in technology and innovation. It was reactivated in 2018 within the movement of the Vale do Pinhão, and the registration of the companies is assessed by the Municipal Committee constituted by the public sector and the organized civil society.