Brazil’s so called “Brazilian Cloud” is planned to run on infrastructure owned by the public sector within Brazil. It will be run by a state company. This was described by people who took part in a public consultation led by government technology offices, and It is something that worries many Brazilians.
The goal is to see how digital control works in real life. Organizers say they want more than just promises from vendors. One idea for a check is called the Disconnection Test. Under that test, links to the outside internet would be cut. Then evaluators would check whether key services still work. This includes login and trust systems, APIs, virtual machines, Kubernetes, storage, databases, key handling, monitoring, backup work, and admin tasks.
Serpro, a federal data processing firm tied to the effort, said its testing work has grown a lot. It started at about 70 checks and now is close to 500. In some cases, paper reviews implied that rules were met. But hands on trials later showed gaps.
The government says it will look into how much it relies on AI tools, both hardware and software. That includes NVIDIA’s CUDA setup. The team plans to review the whole stack and check if parts can be swapped out while the platform keeps working. For now, building chips is not the main goal. This early phase is about the software side.
Officials expect the next cloud to offer AI and machine learning services. This would cover generative AI and large language models. It would also include options for tuning models, putting them into use, and scaling them up. The plan also calls for data traceability and model checks for use in the public sector.
They propose a “Sovereignty Gradient.” In that approach, 30% of the score would go to data sovereignty. 40% would go to operational sovereignty. The last 30% would go to technological sovereignty. Vendors would have to share details on their tech and control layers. They would also need to name who runs what, how updates are handled, and what licensing terms apply. The disclosure would include how outside users can access systems, what telemetry is sent, and whether parts can be replaced.
The work is coordinated by the Ministry of Management and Innovation, Serpro, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), and the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI). Officials noted that the current consultation is early. It is not meant to pick a supplier. Instead, it aims to inform later technical, legal, and business options.
This effort also seeks to use public buying power to boost local tech know-how. If intellectual property is created in a later partnership, it must be shared. In addition, knowledge transfer to teams at public companies is expected, along with research and development carried out in Brazil.
Officials said the contract is likely to have a reversibility clause. If a private partner pulls out, stops work, or ends the deal, the state would have to run the platform on its own. That would include getting permanent access to the source code.
Officials also said the effort is not meant to wipe out foreign tools or overseas vendors. The plan is to spot where the project depends on outside tech. Then the goal is to make sure those dependencies do not block the government from using the system. If needed, they would switch to other options or swap out suppliers.
The key issue is simple. Can Brazil keep its digital infrastructure running if a supplier, a technology provider, or a foreign country stops support?
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