TOP INTERVIEWS Interview with Mr. CID TORQUATO Executive Director of the Camara-E.Net (Brazilian Chamber of E-Commerce) 13 of June 2002 Camara-e.net was created on May 7th, 2001. What were the reasons behind the creation of this institution? The main reason for Camara-e.net's foundation was the institutional vacuum in the private sector concerning IT, e-Business and e-Government related issues. There are over 120 bills of law in our Congress dealing directly or indirectly with such matters. Our aim is to help avoid the approval of negative regulation. Another reason that lead to the foundation of the Camara-e.net was that IT and e-Business are fantastic tools of economic development but in a country like Brazil these tools can also further broaden our social-economic divides. Our chamber was founded to deal with public and regulatory policies, and to foster IT/e-Business development at all levels. What would you highlight as being the most important contribution of Camara-e.net to the Brazilian digital economy in this first year of its activities? In terms of public policies, our major contribution has been the proposal of a National Policy on Information Technology and e-Business, elaborated in partnership with the Executive Office of the President and other public and private organisations. Our Policy encompasses all IT related matters, setting principles and organizing the major issues in calls to action by our governments and governmental agencies at all levels, as well as by private and third sectors. Through our work proposition, we have established that what matters in the IT sector is the private sector, its associations and its pressure groups. We have to overcome historical paradigms of public/private exchange, setting the agenda, leading the formulation of public policies and monitoring and interacting with our governments to make sure our limited resources are thoroughly invested. Although our study deals with all IT related issues, there is no doubt that the key points are e-Gov, telecommunications infrastructure, regulation and auto-regulation, international negotiations and harmonization of national legislations, imports and exports, international investments and our enormous digital divide. Regarding Camara-e.net's work to foster business and market growth, our main banner is what we call Business Inclusion, which is our contribution to the broader digital exclusion issue. Our efforts in this field are focused on bridging the digital divide for small/medium-sized companies, through business education and consultancy, creating awareness and providing information to enable company leaders to decide and act. We say to businessmen: (i) "Do not let inertia set the future of your organization"; (ii) learn and decide; (iii) get connected to the digital economy; (iv) upgrade your human resources to this mindset; (v) and they will spread this new culture to their families and communities, closing up the cycle of digital inclusion. What kind of companies / organizations are members of the Camara-e.net and what benefits do they get from this institution? As e-Business cuts the market horizontally, our founding members are the leading companies from the main sectors of the economy, as well as the major portals and main players of the Internet. Amongst our 130 members, we can count on worldwide known brands such as Accor Group, Amex, Aol, C&A, HP, Ericsson, Fedex, GE, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, Reuters, Siemens, Telefónica, 3M, Unilever, Verisign, Visa and Xerox, as well as leading Brazilian companies, like Americanas, Grupo Estado, CPM, Datasul, Correios, Fiesp, Rede Globo, Petrobrás, Serasa, UOL, Varig and Votorantim. With the support of such giants, Camara-e.net has become the intelligence on IT and e-Business in Brazil. Theses and other companies have joined the Brazilian Chamber of e-Commerce to build the intelligence of the market and to become the leaders of the net economy in Brazil. We are effectively influencing the present and the future of e-Business in our country and Latin America. Besides leading public and regulatory matters on IT, our members have access to exclusive information on legislative work, governmental investments and purchases, business opportunities and international trade. Federal projects in Brazil like e-Governo, the Digital Inclusion Program or ComprasNet, are contributing towards the growth of e-commerce and the use of Internet. How are these governmental efforts contributing towards the transformation of the Brazilian economy? These efforts are fundamental for the development and the modernization of economic relations in Brazil, promoting gains in productivity and competivity at all levels. E-Government is essential to the development of e-Business and the Cardoso administration has made a point of it. Led by his most acclaimed minister, Pedro Parente, this administration in power since 1994 has made clear that there is no future to government outside the Internet. On-line is the only way governments can cut infrastructural costs, improve management, foster democracy and participativism, offer transparency and control, and promote citizenship and social justice. Our e-Gov Program, for instance, even though uneven and still limited, is a worldwide reference both in terms of governing tools and public services, of which the highlights are the Federal Government Intranet and information networks; our digital voting system for major elections, reaching 100% of voters; the tax system; the procurement system ComprasNet, responsible for up to 30% savings in government purchases; and a great number of other on-line services that improve dramatically the over-burocratic over-the-counter services. Of course the challenges are still immense, since Brazil is a developing country with limited capital resources, uncountable problems and a huge population of not-haves. That is exactly why we have proposed our National Policy on IT and e-Business, in order to have a plan that deals with such infrastructure matters in a strategic and pragmatic way. The Brazilian state-of-the-art e-banking system is recognized worldwide as a model. How is this highly developed financial structure affecting the evolution of the Brazilian digital economy? What is your strategy to involve this sector in the activities of the Camara-e.net? Our banking system as a whole is considered to be very advanced, a worldwide benchmark in many aspects. The banks are the leaders in investments and in fostering the use of IT in Brazil. And they do it for obvious reasons: productivity, competitiveness and profitability. Correios, our postal services, is also launching its Postal Bank in a partnership venture with Bradesco that will reach all of Brazil's over 4,500 cities, making financial services and the Internet available to millions of Brazilians. We interact with those kinds of initiatives and support them. We also work together with our members on regulatory issues concerning means of payment, privacy and security. In addition to this, we collaborate in campaigns to create awareness about important questions, such as digital crimes, best practices in on-line retail, the use of credit cards and Business Inclusion. The privatization process in the Telecommunications sector in Brazil has allowed for a spectacular growth in the country's connectivity. What has this process done to influence B2B, B2C and B2G? What are your expectations for the future business volume negotiated through the digital economy? Privatising our telecommunications infrastructure has been a key aspect to the increase of the use of information technology in Brazil. There is no doubt about it. The number of fixed lines has increased to over 40 million, there are 25 million Internet users and close to 30 million cell phones subscribers. This amounts to around 100 million Brazilians users. However, the sector is now suffering from over-optimism, after having made investments that will never give the expected returns. Nevertheless a consolidation process is on its way, coming to a head in 2003, when privatization restrictions will expire, thus allowing companies mergers and acquisitions to take place. Both e-retail and e-business will keep on growing fast for the next decade, not only here but also worldwide. We could call it the Digital Decade and the potential is inexorable. The studies made by Camara-e.net indicate that the Digital Economy will make a turnover of US$ 13 billion in Brazil this year, taking into account B2B, B2C, B2G, on-line media, ISPs and Asps. Retail might has broken the US$ 1 billion mark, with sales growing in cars, electronics and home equipments. On-line commerce is the future. Since 1997 BNDES (National Bank for Development) has been providing incentives for Software companies to export through its business unit "Prosoft". What does Brazil has to offer in the international markets? How can the Camara e-net be involved in helping this process? Brazil has a fantastic potential to become an important exporter in many different areas. Software is one of them and, indeed, a crucial one. Our commercial deficit in technology is over US$ 8 billion a year and is expected to reach US$ 40 billion before the end of this decade. One of our missions is to act internationally, to help harmonize legislations and to break unnecessary commercial barriers between countries. That is why we are setting the basis together with the main IT associations in the US and Latin America. It is what will be called the IT and e-Business Chamber of the Americas. This is why the Brazilian Chamber of e-Commerce, in partnership with the Softex Program and the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, is organizing for late September 2002. It will be a commercial mission of e-banking/e-business software and platform developers. Our goal is to double Brazilian software exports until the end of 2003, adding up to around US$ 200 million. Public and private have joined forces towards the evolution of the new economy. The government is setting up the basis and the private sector needs to invest constantly in IT. Where do you see this investment taking place? We believe that investments in e-government will be the main business force in the IT market in the next couple of years. Governments have no choice but to invest heavily on IT, to modernize their structures and cope with the demands of growing e-democracies. We estimate that e-Gov programs at all levels will consume up US$ 100 billion in investments during this decade. A considerable amount of such investments will come from the private sector in partnerships and concessions with our governments. This is an important reason why the private sector, especially in a huge country like Brazil, has to get organized and act institutionally to lead the formulation of public policies, as well as monitor and interact with governmental investment processes. Referring to the FTAA and MERCOSUR. What role is Camara-e net playing in negotiations and what do you think Brazil can add to the digital economy of Latin America? In what aspects can the Brazilian digital economy benefit from these agreements and what are the issues that Brazil still needs to discuss? Again, the private sector has to play an active role in international negotiations because of the impact these legislations will have on the country's affairs. More and more national legislation has to emanate from international treaties and conventions, especially in terms of e-business. Camara-e.net's contribution in this process has been to set a pragmatic agenda, identifying what is controversial and what can be easily negotiated. In such negotiable cases, which represent the majority of matters, we have been presenting propositions and papers, setting the basis of the negotiations in important fields, such as best practices in the on-line retail and consumer protection. In the case of Brazil, we still have to do some homework and approve our National Policy on IT and e-Commerce, create a set of principles and interests, to be able to draw our international negotiation strategies. Camara-e.net is presently working on both. Brazil has a key role in such international negotiations, particularly in the Americas. Within Mercosul, there is no doubt we have the most advanced legislations in the majority of cases. In terms of FTAA, Brazil has the opportunity to set the pace, since our legislations apply to the whole country, differently from the US where every state has its own laws. Mr. Torquato, in the book "Desvirtualizando a nova economia" (Devirtualizing the new economy) that you have recently published, you talk about the advantages and inconveniences of the new economy and the challenges to be faced in this new universal network. What would be your message to the international business community concerning these aspects? Being on-line has brought people and countries closer together. Everybody, everywhere, is sharing the same problems. Humanity has to learn how to distribute wealth more equally. The rich have to take care of the poor, even if only for security reasons. The criminal wars fought in the streets of developing countries, like Brazil, and the lesson drawn from September 11th are proof of this. Good investment must generate wealth all round, not just profitability for a select few. I am sure the frontierless digital world will help human kind be more just. Note: WINNE cannot be held responsible for the content of unedited transcriptions.