The mayor’s office of the Brazilian city of Niteroi has published a resolution regulating a law to incentivise startups and innovative entrepreneurship based on technological solutions and the city’s innovation ecosystem. The Municipal Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (SMCTI) will be responsible for these actions.

The aim is to promote scientific and technological development and innovation, and to promote, organise and support a qualified network of innovation environments designed to stimulate the development of innovative solutions.

Secretary for Science, Technology and Innovation Valeria Braga emphasised that the resolution was adopted due to the need to stimulate the innovation process in the city.

“Municipal regulation of startup hiring by the city and the creation of regulatory sandboxes (experimental environments) arose out of the need to stimulate innovation in the city – both through public contracts and by using the city as a platform for testing solutions. This municipal regulatory framework will promote local entrepreneurship, offering new solutions that can improve the provision of services to citizens,” said Braga, emphasising that they have been created in collaboration with the Municipal Council for Science, Technology and Innovation and participants in the innovation ecosystem.

Decree No. 15.025/2023 regulates Additional Act No. 182 of 1 June 2021 and establishes incentives for various sectors through partnerships with start-ups to offer specific products, services and results of public interest to the population.

Incentive policies can use economic subsidies, financing, tax incentives, grants, research, development and innovation partnership agreements, among others, as instruments, as reported by Toda Palavra, a partner of TV BRICS.

Incentive policies aim to recognise innovative entrepreneurship as a vector of economic, social and environmental development, to stimulate the creation of a favourable environment for innovative entrepreneurship, to improve public policies and instruments to promote innovative entrepreneurship, and to encourage a culture of innovation in municipal government.

In addition, the programme aims to develop and strengthen the city’s startup ecosystem, attract and retain startups with high growth potential, and improve the conditions for interaction, exchange and collaboration between different actors. The project also aims to link the local innovation ecosystem with other regional, national and international technology centres to promote the city of Niteroi as a benchmark in this area.

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