Address by the President of the Republic, Michel Temer, during the launch ceremony of the National Digital Government Network - Gov.Br Network - and opening ceremony of the 4th Innovation and Public Management Week

Dear friends, Ministers Moreira Franco,

Esteves Conalgo,

Carlos Henrique Sobral,

Minister Raimundo Carreiro,

Mr. Leonardo Euler de Morais, President of the National Telecommunications Agency,

Ladies and gentlemen.

It need not be said that it is an extraordinary honour to participate in the opening ceremony of this 4th Innovation and Public Management Week. Incidentally, the motto chosen for the debates could not be more opportune. Public service for the future. A future that requires, as we could verify in the words of Minister Esteves, that necessarily requires the absorption of new technologies. That requires the use of innovation for the benefit of people, for the truth is that, in many ways, as already said, that future has already arrived. The National Digital Government Network gives a very clear example of these aspects.

The Network, in fact, is the Public Administration's gateway to the 21st century. In fact, I'll make an aside here to say that, throughout our administration, we have brought over all themes from the twentieth century and modernised them for the 21st century. The various reforms that we have made in the federal government were, in fact, precisely aimed at putting Brazil in the twenty-first century. This is precisely one more concrete step in the consolidation of a public service in line with the expectations of citizens. Naturally, [in line] with the demands of entrepreneurs, with the needs of Brazilians.

Everyone, as you could perceive in the words of Esteves, has access to better and cheaper services. In fact, Minister Esteves told me that all the digital transformation we have already promoted in the government has generated savings, it is interesting this aspect... which exceed 600 million reais. Savings that will be even bigger with the network being launched today.

Therefore, my warm greetings, of course, to Minister Esteves, to all his staff who work day and night - and I am witness to this - for more modern management in the Brazilian State.

In this particular, I must say that Brazil and the world live interesting times, in which pieces of the past and pieces of the future coexist. The public sector, of course, is not immune to this phenomenon. On the one hand, the public sector continues to be the heir of practices considered to be obsolete, which still weigh on the machinery of government. On the other hand, it builds advances that accumulate and point towards transparency, de-bureaucratisation and efficiency. In fact, I must register here, fulfilling the constitutional precepts.

When we speak of transparency, simplification, de-bureaucratisation, these are seemingly words of political content, but they are not. They are words of legal content, because the provisions of our Constitution, extremely modern up to the present moment, describes precisely these attributes as necessary to public service, and simplify, to use an image, we could say, on the one hand, as Esteves said, where the analogue world subsists... On the other hand, a digital world emerges.

The fact is - and I will say a triviality here - that our society is increasingly digital. Today, no one spends an hour without looking at digital devices to see what is happening in the world. Public administration, therefore, has to adapt to this reality that is being renewed every day. And it is precisely this, we all think, that citizens expect, minister Esteves, Minister Carreiro: public services that live up to our time. More agile and high-quality public services. More rational action by the Brazilian State.

Naturally, the tireless fight against corruption, waste, unnecessary procedures that only make life difficult for the population. A few days ago, I signed a normative act that removes, for example, the requirement for notarised signatures. When you are going to present yourself to a public service, to any service, simply present an identity card and the civil servant himself can validate your signature; in other words, permanent de-bureaucratisation.

And I see that gestures of this nature, extremely simple, have very good repercussions. People receive administrative gestures of this nature with applause. But we must be clear: without proper governance, we will not be the prosperous and just country that we all aspire to be. Hence, the importance attributed to the National Digital Government Network.

We all know that this initiative does not happen in isolation. To some extent, it is part of this larger effort to modernise the Brazilian State. An effort, in fact, in which we have been engaged since the first day of our government. In the last two and a half years, I'll repeat, we have sought an ambitious agenda of transformations. The results, in fact... I will take advantage of, Esteves, of the very attentive and affectionate audience listening to us to say... that it is enough to remember that Brazil has risen 16 positions in the Bank's... in World Bank's ranking that evaluates the business environment of the various countries. And in all this, our purpose has always been the same: untie knots, solve old problems, and, of course, open new avenues.

Incidentally, a purpose that also certainly encourages those who are awarded the 22nd prize, is not it? [I mean] The 22nd ENAP award and the first Inova

award, from the Ministry of Planning. It was created there at the Ministry of Planning, was it not?

To each one, therefore, of the winners, of the awardees, legitimately rewarded, I want to leave our congratulations. And, of course, to each one of them for their performance, I thank them for their invaluable contribution to Brazil. And so, with hard work and clarity of ideas, with the engagement of government and society, we are building the Brazil we all want.

Therefore, once again, Minister Esteves, my compliments, my compliments to your team, and I'm very grateful. I, who presently preside over the Federative Republic of Brazil, have the pleasure, the honour, the civic, administrative and political satisfaction, to participate in this event of modernisation of the Brazilian Public Administration, thanks to your commitment.

Thank you all very much.