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Sustainable Regional Development through Entrepreneurial Ecosystem:

Case Study of Brazil Digital Gaming Industry

Zimu Xu

The project focuses on the potential for ‘smart’ sustainable development through digitization in the fourth industrial revolution. In this cutting-edge collaborative research, the project examines the prospects for the digital gaming industry in Brazil.

The global games industry is already big business and the prospects are for much, much more to come! Estimates are that global games revenues will grow at a 5.7%, reaching a remarkable US$93.18 billion by 2019. The US$93 billion dollar question is ‘how far are developing countries such as Brazil getting a share of the action?’

The research takes as its starting point the stress placed by the G20 leading group of economies on the importance of developing countries grasping and promoting the benefits of the digital revolution, entrepreneurship and greener, smarter economies. The research foregrounds the development of an ‘entrepreneurial ecosystem’ as an effective strategy for sustainable regional development. The Brazilian digital gaming industry is in its infancy, but the research demonstrates that the sector is packed with potentials and challenges. However, the early indications are that Brazil’s gaming ecosystem development demands holistic support nationally and globally. In addition, the Brazilian industry can benefit substantially from Trilateral Cooperation. and, in particular, knowledge-sharing and insights into the lessons to be learned from the experience of developed countries such as global leaders in the industry like the UK.

The Kaingang Oral History Project is working with the Kaingang community to create a platform through which their stories and histories can be recorded and disseminated at the national and international level. This project is possible as a result of the community’s active efforts to build international collaborative relationships. The Kaingang are an indigenous tribe located in South Brazil.  Like many indigenous peoples, they are socially, politically, and historically marginalised. Dignity and equality are routinely denied to the Kaingang.  As a result, the erosion of the prejudices at the root of this issue will be a necessary step towards aiding the UN in achieving its 2030 agenda.

Despite this marginalisation, the Kaingang are proud of their culture.  Indeed, there is a strong belief among many that the sharing of their culture with outsiders will greatly alleviate their current situation.  The verbal abuse and marginalisation they experience is depowering, not because it denies them political agency, but because it denies many members of the community the same aspirational expectations which other members of Brazilian society are able to enjoy.  The Kaingang believe that by sharing their stories and culture that they will erode the ignorance which fuels many of the attacks their community must suffer.  The Kaingang wish to share their stories locally, as well as at the national and international levels.  They recognise that their culture possess an inherent value and that by sharing it, they will be able to erode ignorance and overcome the marginalisation and prejudices which they currently face.

This project runs alongside efforts by colleagues at the University of Chapecó in Santa Catarina who are working with Kaingang communities to increase their access to education.  This project will create a collaborative, multi-lingual, global platform which will engage the public, influence policy, and spread awareness about the unique value which Kaingan culture and history can bring to a local and global audiences. 

This project aims to:

• Foster respect and dignity within the national and international frameworks which the current socio-cultural climate limits.
• Develop sustainable relationships between the Kaingang and non-indigenous peoples which are rooted in respect and empathy.
• Raise awareness of Kaingang culture through the reconstruction of the community’s history through intercultural collaboration.
• Forge new international relationships which will bring peoples from across the world into contact with Kaingang culture
• Create a written record of Kaingang history which will be easily accessible in both the Portuguese and English speaking worlds.
• Engage the public in a broader discourse about how the Kaingang have contributed to Brazilian history and culture.
• Influence political policy by eroding damaging and inaccurate prejudices.
• Foster respect and dignity among international communities.
• Foster connections with other indigenous peoples.

For more information contact: Dr. Darren Reid: ab8203@coventry.ac.uk