The official opening occurred on Apr 11
Photo: Camila Cunha – Ascom/PUCRS
Singularity University, a project designed by Nasa and Google, opened its Porto Alegre chapter at an evening event on Apr 11, at the auditorium of Global Tecnopuc. The event consisted of lectures that addressed mostly the exponential growth organizations as a reflective action for business management. They were mediated by Singularity’s local ambassadors, Francisco Milagres and Renato Cunha, and by the director of Science and Technology Park (Tecnopuc), Rafael Prikladnicki.
The chapters are part of the project SingularityU Chapters, which encourages, with the participation of its alumni, the development of entrepreneurship and technology in their original regions. Although Porto Alegre will not be hosting a physical unit of the institution, its ambassadors intend to promote events and discussions on innovation in order to explore new technologies, find out about new opportunities, build unprecedented solutions and empower more effective agents of change in organizations. “Our major role is to connect the local ecosystem to other Singularity partners”, explained Cunha.
The Park’s director stood up for the concept of the abundance logic, which accepts that everyone should offer their best for the region’s development. “I make available everything I know to the ecosystem, and I know this will come back to me and everyone will have more conditions to grow. When we bring our thoughts together, we’ll go from linear to exponential growth”, said Prikladnicki. Cunha emphasized that its goal is to share experiences. “My knowledge is your knowledge and what we can share will be good for both”, asserted he. Additionally, he highlighted how the concept of exponential organizations is present in technologies. “As technologies are developed on a digital format, they grow exponentially, become more agile, more efficient, economical and intelligent”, said he, as he exemplified the evolution of the earliest computers up to the current versions of smartphones and mentioned the way technologies can have a direct impact on all professions. Milagres, on the other hand, talked about the institution’s mission in Porto Alegre. “There’s no magic to generate wealth and progress without getting us out of our comfort zone and this is our goal”, highlighted he.
Porto Alegre is the sixth unit of the institution in Brazil and is among the 60 Chapters present in 37 countries. An event called Singularity University Brasil Summit is scheduled for October in Rio de Janeiro, and may accredit the country to have a physical unit of the institution.
