This Wednesday morning (3), the National Conference of Data Producers and Users (CONFEST/CONFEGE) opened, taking place in Salvador (BA) until December 5 at the SENAI CIMATEC complex.

The event began with a performance by the Bairro da Paz Children's Choir, by the NeojibáOrchestra, a project linked to the Secretariat of Justice and Human Rights of the Government of Bahia. The group performed the Brazilian National Anthem, as well as special versions of songs such as Silent Night and Hail Mary. After that came a video from the Government of Bahia with the State Anthem.

The IBGE state superintendent in Bahia, André Urpia, spoke about the honor of hosting CONFEST/CONFEGE in the state, in the first edition of the conference outside Rio de Janeiro: “It will leave great marks and contributions to the generation of data and for the IBGE to contribute to the planning of what Brazil needs in public policies in the coming years.”

Former Senator Walter Pinheiro, director of Corporate and Government Relations at SENAI CIMATEC, explained that the conference is essential to “address the sovereignty of our nation,” and that the IBGE is “our data center, which leads us to a sovereign process of building public policies.” 

State Superintendent of Banco do Nordeste, Pedro Lima Neto, discussed his organization's relationship with the IBGE: “we use the IBGE to learn and think about the future. IBGE has a solid base that complements ours.” He completed, declaring: “looking at the world map with Bahia in the center, we can see that the IBGE thinks outside the box.” 

André Agatte, Director of Business, Governments and Markets at Serpro, highlighted the importance of data sovereignty, explaining that the information stored by the organization does not have foreign interference. In this context, he celebrated the partnership with the IBGE and, based on data interoperability with the Institute, the possibility of creating predictive public policies. 

Secretary of Education, Rowenna Brito celebrated CONFEST/CONFEGE as an “important occasion for the history of education in Brazil,” revealing that, in a partnership with the IBGE, 1,500 Professional Education students from state institutions will participate in the conference workshops. The secretary also praised the world map, declaring: “We have the capacity and we can be the center of the world. This is central to the construction of public policies for students.” 

Carlos Henrique Passos, president of the Federation of Industries of the State of Bahia (FIEB), highlighted the importance of IBGE as an instrument for Brazil to make the country's resources more effective, and how the IBGE supports initiatives such as the state's Industry Observatory. 

The event also featured speeches by José Acácio Ferreira, director general of the Superintendency of Economic and Social Studies of Bahia (SEI), Wilson Cardoso, mayor of the municipality of Andaraí and president of the Union of Municipalities of Bahia (UPB), and Valentina María, representative of the National Institute of Statistics of Uruguay. 

The president of the IBGE, Marcio Pochmann, began his speech talking about the importance of starting CONFEST/CONFEGE, which will bring Brazil's first General Statistical and Geographic Information Plan (PGIEG) since 1974, which will base the country's planning around statistics. 

Pochmann explained the need to plan in a participatory way, to understand, for example, what surveys the IBGE needs to do to meet the demands of a hyperconnected society in the Digital Age.  

Another fundamental issue to be discussed at CONFEST/CONFEGE, according to the president, is data sovereignty, at a time when 78% of the Brazilian information is held by foreign companies. Furthermore, the challenges of using artificial intelligence (AI) in national statistical offices and of integrating databases: “with these technologies, the format of public policies can be changed.” 

The opening of CONFEST/CONFEGE concluded with a speech by the governor of Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues, who began his speech by thanking the IBGE “for its history and for having such a strong mark on society, even though many Brazilians are not aware of the potential of this national statistical office.”  

The head of the State Executive sought to make a “provocation to the IBGE”, talking about the need for the Institute to lead the strengthening of a single information system with the capacity to support states and municipalities. 

In his speech, Rodrigues also praised IBGE for including traditional peoples and communities in the 12th Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Aquaculture, whose pilot test is underway: “There is no way to create a portrait of the countryside without considering, for example, Indigenous people, quilombolas, and several other communities.” 

At the end of his speech, Rodrigues talked about the “invitation to reflection” brought by the world map, about the history of colonization suffered by Brazil, and more specifically about the states of the North-Northeast: “the data brought by the IBGE help us to leave the place of a colonized country.” 

The event also featured the signing of agreements, such as the technical-scientific cooperation between the IBGE, FIEB and SENAI CIMATEC, and the creation of Casa Brasil IBGE in Salvador, which will be inaugurated on December 5. 

The conference

Organized by the IBGE, with support from the Government of the State of Bahia, the Federation of Industries of the State of Bahia (FIEB), Senai Cimatec, the United Nations Development Program (PNUD) and the Union of Municipalities of Bahia (UPB), the National Conference of Data Producers and Users (CONFEST/CONFEGE) is sponsored by the Federal Data Processing Service (Serpro) and the Bank of Northeast of Brazil S.A. (BNB). 

Service: National Conference of Data Producers and Users (CONFEST/CONFEGE) 
Theme:A proposal for a General Statistical and Geographic Information Plan (PGIEG) for the Development of Brazil in the Digital Age, in the period between 2026 and 2030. 
International sessions will have translation. 
Date: December 3 to 5, in Salvador (BA) 
Venue: SENAI Cimatec and SESI facilities 
Address: 1845 Orlando Gomes Avenue - Piatã.