Under the guidance of IBGE, several institutions, users and producers of geographic and statistical data in Brazil and abroad will discuss projections, criteria and tendencies in the II National Meeting of Producers and Users of Social, Economic and Territorial Information (II ENPUISET), to be held in Rio de Janeiro, from August 21^st  to 25^th. To secure transparency in the realm of the statistics produced in the country, analyze its quality, and find relevant topics which have not yet been investigated are some of the main objectives of this event. It will also be an opportunity to discuss the creation of a data base with all the geographic names (toponyms) in Brazil and Latin America.

About 600 participants are expected from Brazil and from abroad are expected for the event. They will be part of over 150 roundtables and lectures, in an area specifically built for the event, in the Center for Documentation and Dissemination of Information (706, General Canabarro Street, Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro). The structure of the event consists of seven tents with an auditorium for 500 people, a dining area, 5 extra support rooms, 10 spots for Internet access and 15 stands, which will house an exhibition about the 70 years of IBGE and a 64m2-map of Brazil.

The II ENPUISET will encompass the V CONFEST – National Conference of Statistics, the IV CONFEGE – National Conference of Geography and Cartography and the SIEG – International Seminar of Production and Dissemination of Statistical and Geographic Information. The event aims at the revision and expansion of The General Plan for Statistical and Geographical Information – PGIEG, of which will participate governmental and non-governmental organizations, scientific institutions, technicians and researchers. The discussions will be conducted until September 2007, and the conclusions reached will be available on the Internet, for public consultation.

Other themes which are not being treated in the current surveys will also be approached. Some of these are: Time Use, Poverty and Inequality, Information about Culture, studies on Violence and Victimization, Gender in Household Surveys, Systems for Indicators of Human Rights, Intellectual Property, Calculation of Housing Deficit, Informal Work and the Informal Sector, among many others.

There will also be discussions about the current production of the economic, social and geographic information and the main projects being developed, such as Technology of Data Collection in the Agricultural Census and in the 2007 Population Count, the Geodetic Reference Change Project, International Recommendation for the 2010 Census; Harmonized Statistics about Disabled Persons, and others.   

Another important topic to be debated is the collection of environmental information, such as Environment Preservation Units and Indigenous Land; Pesticides: use effects and indicators; Polluting Potential of Industries; Mapping of Environmental Risk Areas, and several others.  

 IBGE will create a data base for geographic names in Brazil

What is the right spelling? Itacuruçá or Itacurussá? Campos dos Goytacazes or dos Goitacazes? Itacoatiara or Itaquatiara? What is the origin of these names? Where are these places located? All the information about over 50 thousand (geographic names) of municipalities, rivers, mountains, bays, etc, will be gathered by IBGE in the Data Base of Geographic Names in Brazil (BNGB), which will also be discussed in the II National Meeting of Producers and Users of Social, Economic and Territorial Information, on August 21, at 1:30 pm.

Up to June 2007, the data base will have all the toponyms present in the Cartographic Base to the Millionth Scale of Brazil. The project, which still depends on financing – is supposed to be complete in five years. The geographic coordinates of BNGB are compatible with the GPS System (Global Positioning System).

The BNGB will be the model for a big group of toponyms in Latin America, in partnership with Venezuela (Simon Bolivar Institute) and Mexico (INEGI), and with financing from IPGH (Pan-American Institute of Geography and History), connected to the Organization of the American States (OEA).