By Bruno Cássio – LAIS/UFRN Ascom

The 15th International Congress of the United Network, held in Vitória, Espírito Santo, until next Sunday (19), has proven to be an important space for the discussion of partnerships. This Thursday (16), during one of the breaks in the program, Ricardo Valentim, executive director of the Laboratory for Technological Innovation in Health at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (LAIS/UFRN), met with researchers from Italy and the United Network to discuss a technical cooperation with the University of Parma.

According to Alcindo Ferla, a Rede Unida researcher and member of the National Health Council (CNS), Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country, faces a dictatorial regime that has led many students and professionals to seek qualification opportunities in the northern region of Italy, where the university city of Parma is located. According to Alcindo Ferla, the idea is to build technical cooperation in the area of technology-mediated education, taking advantage of the good experiences that LAIS has.

LAIS researchers listened attentively to the invitation made by Maria Augusta Nicoli, researcher at the University of Parma and Rede Unida, for the Brazilian Laboratory to contribute to the training of young students from Myanmar who have sought help on Italian soil: “for us, it is gratifying to be able to realize the dream of Myanmar students who seek qualified training and have this right denied in their country”.

Ricardo Valentim remembered that this approach with the University of Parma started to be strengthened, in Natal/RN, during the 3rd International Conference on Innovation in Health, promoted by LAIS. According to Valentim, “LAIS is willing to collaborate with the construction of a technical cooperation with the Italian university, in the molds of the ones developed in countries like Portugal, Spain, United States and Canada, mobilizing its entire team of specialists so that this can be accomplished”.

The representatives from LAIS, Rede Unida, and the University of Parma committed themselves to promoting, in the second semester of 2022, an international seminar in Parma, Italy, to exchange knowledge and sign the technical cooperation agreement.