South of Santa Catarina gains Innovation Center managed by UNESC

State governor Jorginho Mello was present

April 26, 2024 will be engraved in the memory of the community in the south of Santa Catarina as the date on which innovation and technology gained a new and great boost. After 11 years of struggles and united efforts, the Criciúma Innovation Center (Crio) was handed over to the region. During the ceremony, the State Governor, Jorginho Mello, and the Rector of Unesc, Luciane Bisognin Ceretta signed the Governance Term, which passes the equipment to the University’s administration. The event also included the participation of the mayor of Criciúma, Clésio Salvaro, and the president of the Criciúma Business Association (Acic), Valcir Zanette.

In addition to Unesc, which takes all the expertise of the Agency for Development, Innovation and Technology Transfer (Aditt), through the Unesc Connect Innovation Hub, Crio is already opening its doors with other institutions installed, such as Criciúma City Hall, the Regional Development Bank of the Far South (BRDE); o Sebrae/SC; Cristalcopo and SDI Comunicação Criativa.

Luciane recalled that the completion and inauguration of the Innovation Center were only possible due to the combined efforts of people and institutions. “When we see the work finished, we often cannot visualize that it has the energy of many people who collaborated so that it could be completed. Crio represents the materialization of the commitment to creativity, economic progress and social development, however, a structure like this cannot be built without a collaborative network and without the capacity for collective construction”, she emphasized.

On April 2, 2013, the State Government announced the creation of the Santa Catarina Network of Innovation Centers, which would be composed, at that time, of nine facilities, Criciúma being one of these locations. “For numerous reasons, 11 years later, we were actually able to deliver. It’s a historic day, which we need to celebrate together. As much as we have some more imbued with the purpose of having it completed, it was only completed because we had an unparalleled ability to overcome our differences and look at the points of divergence in a much smaller way than those we saw as convergence, which it was the reason we had an Innovation Center here. I hope that this new equipment can foster new economic matrices, or even implement the ones we have. That’s why I say that this is a collective construction”, he said.

Investments

In total, the Criciúma Innovation Center received investments of R$ 27,234,302.22, with the amounts allocated by Unesc being R$ 15,396,650.81, that is, 56% of the total work. Of these amounts, R$ 13,022,000.00 refers to the transfer of use of the property.

The State Government allocated R$7,051,061.49 (26%), through the Santa Catarina State Research and Innovation Support Foundation, in addition to R$1,804,472.31 (7%), from the Secretariat State of Science, Technology and Innovation. Criciúma City Hall invested R$ 1,437,237.79 (5%). Furthermore, R$1,544,879.82 (6%) comes from parliamentary amendments.

Applied knowledge

In addition to strengthening the Santa Catarina Network of Innovation Centers, which already has 15 spaces like this across the state, from now on, Crio will be a meeting and collaboration point between the four sectors of society.

The Criciúma Innovation Center will be a space for the production, integration, sharing and application of relevant knowledge, technology and innovation that aims to develop companies, startups and entrepreneurs by working with the public and private sectors, in addition to Higher Education Institutions.

Governor Jorginho Mello reinforced the search for excellence in Innovation Centers and praised the partnership with Unesc.

“We want innovation centers to have life, to think about technology and innovation. Worry about academia and professional training. That’s what they are created for. These devices are fundamental, because, in addition to the mission of these equipment, when we enter into a partnership with a University with the quality of Unesc, it is a perfect marriage, as it allows more than the promotion of companies, but also allows the creation of an ecosystem. I hope that all equipment in the state has this same destination, as Acafe is our system that allows us to form partnerships. Here, we will have the management of Unesc and I have no doubt that it will be successful. Let’s make all innovation centers come alive and think about technology, innovation and care about academia. That’s why they were created”, highlighted governor Jorginho Mello.

Present in the design of the location, Criciúma City Hall will allocate the space it is entitled to in Crio to Happy Face, a program of which it is a partner and which aims to identify students with high skills.

Mayor Clésio Salvaro recalled that the place where the Innovation Center now operates was once the office of a large coal company that, purchased by the Municipality in 2010, would become a space to serve a thousand children full-time: the Nereu Guidi Educational Complex. Years later, the property ended up being sold to Unesc and the mayor himself, in conversations with the dean, suggested that the space could be used to establish the future Criciúma Innovation Center.

“Unesc acquired the property that was under construction and, in partnership with the State and the city hall, today we delivered the Innovation Center that will fulfill another purpose, as noble as the one initially proposed. God allowed me to become mayor again, with a partner dean and a friendly governor so that we could fulfill the same purpose and, through Crio, give an opportunity to those who have an idea and turn it into business”, he commented.

Contribution to the economy

The technology sector currently represents 6.5% of Santa Catarina’s Public Domestic Product (GDP). There are 20 thousand companies that generate around 80 thousand jobs. The numbers presented by the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Marcelo Fett, represent some of the importance of the segment for the state and the opening of an Innovation Center in the region.

“Investing in technology is important for development. It is an important pillar of justice and social and sustainable development for the country and the Criciúma region. When we analyze what is fundamental for the development of innovation, we have knowledge, financing and infrastructure, three points that are delivered today with the inauguration of Crio. And there would be no one more appropriate to manage the Innovation Center than Unesc. This project will, without a doubt, be a milestone in a new moment in the South region, starting from Criciúma, and will contribute to the economic development of Santa Catarina”, he observes.

The productive sector also celebrates

Another important actor in this implementation process is Acic, something that was highlighted by the organization’s president, Valcir Zanette. “The inauguration of the Innovation Center represents the realization of a dream cherished for more than a decade by the business class, various entities, institutions and our entire community. The joint commitment of all these actors is now rewarded with the completion of this important project which, without a doubt, inaugurates a new era in Criciúma’s economy and consolidates the region as a hub for the development of technology, innovation and economic diversification, being an agent of collaboration for regional development, going beyond technology companies”, he highlights.

11 years ago, when Criciúma was one of the chosen cities, an implementation committee was set up with Mário Gaidzinski as its first president, who says he is proud to see the result of so many years of work carried out by many people. “This is a day that the entire South has to be proud of, because projects have become reality, and realities can change people’s quality of life. The spirit is that in movements like this, in which the collective generates value and that the synapse between companies, educational institutions and organized entities manage to transfer the quality of life of citizens. The Innovation Center is a landmark for the South and will represent a large percentage and added value for Criciúma. I feel very proud to have been part of this. What counts are the seeds we cultivate and those we planted 11 years ago are bearing fruit now. Everything was done with many hands who put their DNA into this venture,” he mentioned.

Path taken to consolidation

The Criciúma Innovation Center project was the focus of many meetings of leaders in the region over more than a decade, however, the timeline of the implementation process and Unesc’s participation dates back to March 22, 2019, when a meeting with the government of Criciúma discussed the partnership between Unesc, city hall and Acic to get it off the ground definitively.

To this end, the University granted the Nereu Guidi Complex building to benefit the development of the region. The release of resources took place on September 13 of the same year, in an event held at the Ruy Hülse Auditorium, on the University campus. From then on, a Crio implementation committee was formed and has since been working towards the outcome that will be celebrated with the official inauguration of the space.