With the purpose of integrating data, culture and citizenship, Casa Brasil IBGE inaugurated its fifth branch, on the 18th, now in the state of Ceará. The new interactive space of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) is the result of a partnership with the State Government of Ceará and is located at the headquarters of the Institute of Economic Research and Strategy of Ceará (IPECE), in the capital Fortaleza. 

The president of the IBGE, Marcio Pochmann, participated online directly from Belém (PA), where he was for the launch of the pre-test of the 12th Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquaculture during COP30, this Monday (17). When opening the inauguration event of Casa Brasil IBGE Ceará, the president highlighted that the initiative expresses a concern of the Institute's management regarding the dissemination to the society of the knowledge produced by the Institute: “The experience that we have had in these first four Casas Brasil IBGE already in function is in the sense of bringing the production - statistical data and all the geosciences - closer to the population. This information is better disseminated by the opportunity that scholars, researchers and also students have to access this set of information.”

Pochmann emphasized that this popularization is essential for citizenship, and stated that: “We are living in a society and governments increasingly driven by data, and this, therefore, must be the concern of institutions like ours, which allow the popularization of information, of data, for the population as a whole, so that they have the appropriate conditions to formulate individual and collective decisions.”

“Today is a historic day for us, inaugurating this new model called Casa Brasil IBGE, which is important from the perspective of the economy, data and culture,” celebrated Alfredo Pessoa, director-general of the Institute of Economic Research and Strategy of the State of Ceará (Ipece), for the newest partnership between the state agency and the main data producer in the country.

Alfredo recalled Ipece's longstanding relationship with the IBGE, mentioning several projects in which the two institutions already collaborate and pointing out the potential that this partnership will still generate: “I see that the national IBGE wants to get closer to society, and is also working with the states to do so. Our Casa Brasil is the fifth in the country... The local IBGE branch was already doing this work, but when the support of the Government of the State of Ceará comes in, that expands.”

Institutional partners praise the initiative

In addition to the leaders of IBGE and Ipece, representatives from various partner institutions that use IBGE data were present at the inauguration event of Casa Brasil IBGE Ceará: João Milton, executive director of the Institute of Studies and Research for the Development of the State of Ceará (Inesp), Wendell Carneiro, from the Technical Office of Economic Studies of the Northeast (Etene) of the Bank of the Northeast (BNB), and Ricardo Coimbra, from the Regional Council of Economics (Corecon/CE). In their speeches, they emphasized the importance of the partnership and the availability of data for the development of studies and the strengthening of the regional economy.

Ricardo Coimbra, advisor to Corecon/CE, praised the Casa Brasil initiative in Ceará, promoted jointly by IBGE and Ipece: “This type of idea, of bringing together two research institutions to enhance their data, increasingly strengthens the understanding of the importance of this information for studies and surveys... And that's what we need. We need this data not to necessarily remain restricted to the institutions, but for it to enhance the emergence of new studies and the promotion of cross-referencing information.”

Wendell Carneiro, in turn, highlighted the relevance of the data produced by the IBGE for the work of Etene/BNB: “We conduct various studies focused on the regional economy, and IBGE ends up being a major supplier of information that enables us to carry out this work within Banco do Nordeste. So it is very important for us to be participating in this event and learning more about this interaction that IBGE provides with civil society and public institutions. This space (Casa Brasil IBGE Ceará) brings IBGE closer to society in general, and therefore, it is a very interesting tool for all of us.”

João Milton, executive director of Inesp Ceará, wished success to this initiative of Casa Brasil IBGE, promotion of the integration and availability of local and national data: “We at Inesp are dependent on information from Ipece and IBGE. When we see that these two big institutions – which represent the data science sector of the State of Ceará and Brazil – are integrated, we know that we will certainly be able to have more products available to present to our parliamentarians and advisors.”

A democratic space for knowledge and innovation

"It is a joy for us at the IBGE to be here on this historic date, because today we are inaugurating an extremely democratic space to disseminate data and also to train people," celebrated Francisco Lopes, IBGE Superintendent in Ceará (SES/CE), who also participated in the inauguration event. In his speech, Lopes indicated that Casa Brasil IBGE Ceará will be directed to audiences, acting as both an exhibition center and a hub for events, including survey launches, guided tours for schools and universities, courses, and the visit of delegations.

“This is a window to, in the future, organize a larger house, and these activities with all the partners,” explained Daniel Castro, general coordinator of the Documentation and Information Dissemination Coordination (CDDI) and Social Communication (CCS) of IBGE, mentioning the expansion project of Casa Brasil IBGE Ceará: “The plan is that, later, the house will be installed in a larger space, with a very large area, to allow dissemination experiences, walking on interactive maps, also connecting with memory and with the dissemination of exhibitions.”

The Casa Brasil IBGE project is conceived as an interactive environment that aims to bring the public closer to the work of the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), making knowledge about the country more accessible. The Fortaleza branch joins the existing headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Recife (PE), Belém (PA), and Juiz de Fora (MG).

The Casa Brasil initiative is structured around the pillars of Memory, Knowledge, and Future, aiming above all to preserve the history of the IBGE and of Brazil, transform statistical data into educational experiences, and foster a data culture and public innovation. Casa Brasil IBGE Ceará is located at the IPECE headquarters, on Av. General Afonso Albuquerque Lima, s/n – Edifício SEPLAG, Ground Floor, in the Cambeba neighborhood, Fortaleza.