Brazilian legislation on innovation policy: a brief history

Innovation is essential for socio-economic progress, particularly in today's fiercely competitive global environment. This article's primary focus is to review the evolution of Brazilian regulations on innovation policy, a subject of intense debate by the government and academic and business institutions. The goal is to review this evolution and dissect the key regulatory frameworks, policies, and initiatives shaping the current scenario. Qualitative research is carried out in three stages: searching and selecting documents, reading and categorizing sources and records, and reviewing relevant information. Since the 2000s, Brazil has promoted legislative reforms to modernize the mechanisms to encourage research and development, such as the Legal Framework for Innovation (2004), the inclusion of the term innovation in the Federal Constitution (2015), the new Legal Framework for Innovation (2016) and the National Policy for Technological Innovation in Health (2017). These changes enhance legal certainty and tax benefits for collaborations between companies and Science, Technology, and Innovation Institutions. Despite the progress, it is still crucial for Brazilian institutions to adopt more robust innovation policies and more effectively align them with national development policies. Recently, the country intensified its innovation efforts by summarizing the Health Economic-Industrial Complex, integrated with the New Industrialization Policy, focused on economic, social, and sustainable development, highlighting public health. Brazil's evolution in innovation policy is a testament to the nation's steadfast commitment to technological and economic progress. While significant strides have been made, greater integration between institutions is imperative to maximize the benefits of innovation.