The city of Assaí in Paraná was founded in the 1920s as Assailand by Japanese immigrants to Brazil, who purchased 12,000 acres of land in the Três Barras area in order to establish a cotton and coffee farming settlement. The rich land in the area attracted many families to the settlement, and its population rose to 53,000 during the height of cotton production, when the city was known as the “white gold capital.” Assaí maintained its rich multicultural heritage throughout its history and today boasts a nearly 15% Japanese and Japanese-descended population, the highest in all of Brazil. Shifts in agricultural production, however, resulted in a massive exodus of the population over the 20th century, leaving Assaí as a city of just over 14,000 in 2020. To navigate this upheaval, the city has embarked on an Intelligent Community Journey that seeks to leverage its infrastructure and talent through partnership with multinational companies and institutions to diversify its economy and develop a skilled workforce ready to tackle new industries.
Becoming a CityLab to Attract Investment
The transformation began in 2022 with a strategic plan called CityLab Assaí, whose principal aim was to attract national and international partners to contribute to the city's progress. As a first step, city government held an event at the city’s Japanese Castle that attracted more than 100 CEOs, government officials and academic leaders. The event led to partnerships with 93 multinational companies - including Adobe, Microsoft, Google, Huawei and Oracle - to test educational solutions that also attracted the interest of higher education outside the city. In the first mark of tangible success, Adobe announced the construction of a design laboratory in Assaí, the company's first in Brazil, according to the city.
Partnerships with tech companies drew their attention to the potential demand for 5G private networks to provide automation and data management for many large farms in the city. Expansion of broadband to agribusiness, in turn, persuaded Brazilian companies such as Ligga Telecom and Telefônica Brasil to begin expanding connectivity in the city, while Assaí launched trials and proof-of-concept projects providing free broadband internet access in public spaces.
Diversifying the Workforce with the Student Passport Program
Another initiative, Assaí’s Student Passport Program, also launched in 2022 with a goal of improving access to education and preparing students for high-quality employment. Targeting the city's citizens age 16 and above, the Passport provides opportunities for personal and professional growth structured around five "boarding gates." The first gate offers high school students free courses supplementing their regular education with personalize learning, preparation for higher education and previews of career paths. The second gate builds on the first by offering financial support for undergraduate studies at partner private universities or cash credits for students attending public universities. The third gate, known as Assaí Tech, offers training in technology, soft skills and digital literacy, with bootcamps provided every six months through business schools StartSe and Alura. The fourth gate subsidizes Master’s and Doctoral degrees for citizens, provided they engage in research, development and innovation in Assaí for at least two years and become mentors in the local teaching network. And finally, the fifth gate offers internship opportunities in public departments, providing first-job experiences for many young people.
In its first year, the Student Passport Program supported 580 students, all of whom are studying and employed or in a trainee position at partner companies. The goal is to support 10,000 citizens by 2030. According to the city, 32 multinationals are involved in the program, which has a budget of 5 million BRL from the city and an additional 3 million BRL from private universities. The program is integrated with the Employability Technological Center, a space equipped with maker spaces, classrooms, labs, multimedia rooms and remote work spaces to further facilitate learning. Twenty exchange scholarships per year have been allocated for Student Passport students by universities including Johns Hopkins in the US, Cambridge in the UK and the University of Tsukuba in Japan.
Creating the Sun Valley Experience to Foster Innovation
Assaí developed a third program, also launching in 2022, to lay the foundations of an innovation ecosystem. The Sun Valley Experience aims to spur innovatlon through collaboration among the city government, citizens, businesses, institutions and universities. According to the city, its first successes have included an identity management platform delivered through Gov.Assaí and a tax incentive program for innovation. Within its first year, according to the city, the Sun Valley ecosystem has attracted more than 1 million BRL in investment and incubated multiple startups.
Assaí has begun providing tax incentives for the development of co-working spaces, innovation centers, academic centers and incubators. To accelerate the process, the city offers tax-exempt status and tech equipment from Sun Valley partner companies to incubators established in private homes. The Experience has also gone public by equipping the city's main avenue with smart poles, smart traffic lights and smart environments where students demonstrate and teach the use of digital technology. A series of Smart Squares, spaces filled with QR codes and Arduino devices for citizen interaction, challenges citizens to suggest solutions to city challenges.
Gov.Assaí is an open-data portal that aims to improve delivery of public services, which also operates a digital inclusion project for older citizens and low-income households. These digital literacy services provide an entry point to other programs, including professional education at the Employability Technology Center and the Student Passport Program.
Gamifying Education and Life
One of the more innovative projects of Assaí is City Points SUNFLOWER. It is a loyalty program designed to incentivize citizens with cashback rewards and discounts at numerous commercial establishments for actions including proper waste disposal, vaccination, event participation, use of renewable energy and participation in selective garbage collection.
Recognizing the potential of this program, the city implemented it in education as well. Activities like classroom attendance, participation in extracurricular activities, workshops and the development of solutions for presentation at CityLab all generate points that can be redeemed through Assaí Digital Shopping. The program also includes a “game of life” where students complete missions, earn badges and can become transformation leaders. At the end of each year, the program rewards the top-ranked individuals at Inova Assaí, the city's annual awards event. Those at the bottom of the rankings are instead enrolled in social projects aimed at providing specialized support to them and their families. The program uses artificial intelligence for behavioral analysis to facilitate decision-making and help diagnose learning deficits.
It can take many years to achieve the kind of ambitious goals that Assaí has committed itself to meeting. It has already created the outlines of the connectivity, innovation and workforce development system its goals demand, and has begun to fill them in with policies and programs drawn from ICF's Community Accelerator Strategy. That outline, and the early achievements of its startup years, signal a determination to build a future even more prosperous, sustainable and inclusive than its "white gold" past.
Population: 15,119
Website: www.assai.pr.gov.br
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