ORF America, in collaboration with the City Government of Belém, launched the Rede Belém Aberta on the sidelines of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group meeting held in the city. The event was attended by the Mayor of Belém, Mr. Edmilson Rodriguez, senior members of his cabinet, and other policymakers, researchers, and practitioners from the government, academia, civil society, and the private sector.
Rede Belém Aberta, or Open Belém Network, is a city-wide digital public infrastructure (DPI) based on the philosophy of an open, protocol-based network that is designed to be inclusive and support innovation in the digital economy. The project is an outcome of a year-long collaborative effort between technology pioneers in Brazil and India, especially Jambu Tecnologia and the Foundation for Interoperability in the Digital Economy (FIDE), facilitated by ORF America and supported by the local government. In the lead up to COP30, which will be held in Belém in 2025, the Rede Belém Aberta will focus on human resource needs such as skilling and employment, access to clean energy, delivery of digital public services and creating the digital backbone for nature-based solutions and the bioeconomy.
With Brazil and India supporting the DPI approach within the G20 and through bilateral engagements, there is an opportunity to shape the future course of digital transformation to one that reflects the priorities of the Global South, tailored to national, regional, and local needs such as job creation, upgrading of skills, clean energy and nature-based solutions, that in turn will support sustainable economic development over the long run. The event featured the following speakers:
Speakers
Antônio Abelém, Professor, Department of Computer Science, Federal University of Para, Belém
João Arroyo, Secretary of Planning and Management, City Government of Belém
Julia Gorayeb, Secretary of Tourism, City Government of Belém
Anit Mukherjee, Senior Fellow, ORF America
Marcelo Sá, Founder and President, Jambu Tecnologia, Belém
