02/05/2019 - 08:00 to 03/05/2019 - 17:30

On May 2nd and 3rd, The Fundação Getúlio Vargas and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) held the First Regional Meeting of the Project “Big Data for Sustainable Urban Development". The goal of the meeting was to present big data projects currently executed in Latin American cities, their benefits and challenges as well as the research project developed by FGV with the support of the IDB - Big Data for Sustainable Urban Development. Within the scope of this project fall legal and regulatory aspects, technological infrastructure, and data science related to the use of large databases implemented to improve public policies.
The project is the result of a Technical Cooperation Agreement signed by FGV and the IDB.  It aims to develop a replicable and scalable pilot project of big data governance model for the participating cities: Miraflores, Montevideo, Quito, São Paulo, and Xalapa. As such, during the meeting the participants discussed strategies for experience sharing between the cities participating in the project. Moreover, they initiated the process of the development of a common work agenda. On FGV’s part, the project is developed by The Center for Technology and Development (CTD), the Rio de Janeiro Law School (FGV Direito Rio), and the School of Applied Mathematics (EMAp).
During the opening of the event, Professor Goret Pereira Paulo, Director of the Research Network of FGV highlighted that "our idea is to gather people responsible for the elaboration and execution of public policies in their cities and researchers, because we think that this union is very productive and can bring benefits to society".
The event included a series of presentations and case studies of Big Data projects and initiatives. In the first panel, "Evidence-Based Public Policy" was addressed. Researcher Lycia Lima from The Center for Politics and Economics in the Public Sector Studies (FGV CEPESP) and The Center for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Brazil and Lusophone Africa (FGV CLEAR) presented "Data to Measure the Effects of Public Policies: The Importance of Impact Assessment". Professor Ivar A. Hartmann from FGV Direito Rio analysed the legal challenges of the project and Professor Jorge Poco from FGV EMAp spoke about the "Visual Exploration of Large Urban Databases: A Study of Taxis in New York". The moderator of this panel was Pablo Cerdeira, Coordinator of CTD from FGV.
The second panel presented case studies. The speakers included Professor Jhessica Reia from FGV Direito Rio who presented the "Case Smart City", Professor Flávio Codeço Coelho from FGV EMAp who spoke about the project "Infodengue: Real Time Analysis of the Risk of Infectious Diseases", Professor Moacyr Alvim Horta Barbosa da Silva from FGV EMAp who presented the "Urban Mobility Standards in the Metropolitan Region of RJ", and Professor Fabio Kon from the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of São Paulo (IME/USP) who discussed the case of "Computer Science and Software Development for Smart Sustainable Cities".

The third panel on Challenges for the Financing of Big Data Projects for Sustainable Urban Development was moderated by Professor Goret Paulo and included the participation of Professor Carlos Américo Pacheco - CEO of FAPESP and Mr. Mauricio Bouskela from the IDB. After the third panel, Professor Antonio Miguel Vieira Monteiro, PhD, from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) gave a talk on the Use of Remote Sensing in Solving Urban Issues.

The fourth panel discussed "Advances and Challenges in the Use of Big Data in Municipal Public Policies" and aimed to present the experiences of each city and identify common practices and challenges in the execution of their projects. The moderator of the panel was Marcus Mentzingen de Mendonça, Coordinator of FGV's Big Data Project for Sustainable Urban Development and the table was composed of: Cristina de Miranda Costa, Advisor on Public Policy, Planning and Management of the Municipality of São Paulo, Vitor Fazio - Coordinator of Platform and Innovation of the Municipality of São Paulo, Jimena Sánchez - Specialist in Open Data from Peru, David Albujar Mesta - Manager of Information Systems and Technologies of the Municipality of Miraflores, Antonio Sobrino Sánchez - Deputy Director of Electronic Government of the Municipal Government of Xalapa, Gilberto Chazaro García - Head of the Unit of Geography and Statistics of the Municipal Government of Xalapa, Carlos Andrés Isch Pérez - General Secretary of Planning of the Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito and Mrs. Rosa Elena Guerrero Mafla - Metropolitan Director of Information Management of the Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito.

"This meeting was the project’s milestone, as it allowed for the face-to-face interaction of the participants - FGV, IDB, and participating cities - and for the exchange of experiences and applied knowledge", emphasized the project coordinator Marcus Mentzingen de Mendonça.

On the second day, interactive sessions were held between the researchers and the representatives of the cities participating in the project. An interactive session was also held for each of the pillars of the project.
 

Presentations