A reflection on the evolution of the Brazilian National Innovation System in twenty years

Abstract

The current trend of internationalization in the market is a new world socio-economic situation in which technology and innovation are crucial elements for a country's economic development and expansion of its companies' systemic competitiveness. This view highlights the need to study the National Innovation System as a system composed of a set of interrelated actors working together in a specific set of relations, which give rise to all the performance and behavior of the system. In this line of thought, it is considered that the national systems are distinct by their different systems, structures, and guidelines of each economy. Developing countries, such as the Brazilian case, face challenges and opportunities in the face of new forms of market structure. This paper explores the reality of the Brazilian innovation system, based on a bibliographic review begun in the late 90's and updated recently. It is about making an exploration to identify its current state of development and to compare the reality of the 90s to identify if the referred system presented some satisfactory evolution during the studied period. Spending on science and technology has increased over the last twenty years, and 2014 reached about 1,27 of the country's Gross Domestic Product. This value is considered very low compared to spending on Research and Development in developed countries in Europe, North America, and Japan. Fundamentally, the Brazilian government acts to make society aware of creating an innovative mentality and adopt technological policies that support this objective more stably and continuously within the real possibilities of the country.