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Bitget aumenta a eficiência do recrutamento com IA reduzindo o tempo de contratação em 38%

VICTORIA, Seychelles, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A Bitget, bolsa líder em criptomoedas e empresa Web3 divulgou um relatório destacando o impacto transformador da inteligência artificial no processo de contratação. Os resultados revelam que a utilização da IA da Bitget reduziu os cronogramas de contratação em 38%, simplificou a aquisição de talentos e aprimorou o alinhamento entre candidatos e vagas, aumentando significativamente a eficiência da força de trabalho.

Principais conclusões

  • A introdução da IA no recrutamento reduziu em 38% o tempo médio de contratação da Bitget.
  • A triagem de currículos com IA reduziu o processamento manual em 76%, permitindo que o departamento de RH se concentrasse em candidatos de nível superior.
  • Os custos de recrutamento caíram 25% devido aos fluxos de trabalho de contratação automatizados.
  • A retenção de funcionários aumentou 15%, pois uma melhor correspondência entre candidato e vaga reduziu a taxa de evasão no primeiro ano.
  • A classificação de candidatos orientada por IA e a correspondência de habilidades e vagas aumentaram a precisão da contratação, reduzindo o viés nas decisões de recrutamento em 38%.

Normalmente, os métodos tradicionais de recrutamento resultam em ciclos lentos de contratação, altos custos e incompatibilidades entre candidatos e cargos. A Bitget implementou uma solução de recrutamento orientada por IA que automatiza a triagem de currículos, o agendamento de entrevistas e a avaliação de candidatos. Ao alavancar o aprendizado de máquina e a análise preditiva, a plataforma otimizou as decisões de contratação com base na compatibilidade de habilidades e vagas, métricas de desempenho anteriores e adequação cultural. Essa transição para o recrutamento orientado por IA acelerou o processo de contratação da empresa, mantendo altos padrões de seleção.

Antes de implementar a contratação orientada por IA, a Bitget contava com a triagem manual de candidatos e agências de recrutamento externas, o que tornava o recrutamento caro e demorado. O ciclo médio de contratação durava 48 dias, e algumas posições técnicas levavam até 50 dias para serem preenchidas. A alta dependência de agências terceirizadas representava quase 40% dos custos totais de contratação, enquanto as equipes internas de RH processavam até 500 currículos por mês, levando a ineficiências operacionais. Apesar do rápido crescimento da empresa, os métodos tradicionais de contratação limitaram sua capacidade de escalar para novos mercados e setores de produtos com eficiência.

Para enfrentar esses desafios, a Bitget introduziu um sistema de recrutamento baseado em IA, projetado para agilizar a contratação, automatizando a triagem de currículos, otimizando a correspondência candidato–vaga e melhorando a tomada de decisões. O modelo de IA foi treinado usando dados históricos de contratações, avaliando indicadores–chave como compatibilidade de habilidades, desempenho anterior e adequação cultural. Integrada aos sistemas de RH existentes, a tecnologia permitiu a rápida classificação e seleção de candidatos, reduzindo o viés humano.

Os resultados foram significativos. O tempo médio de contratação caiu 38%, reduzindo os ciclos de recrutamento de 48 para 30 dias. A eficiência da triagem de currículos melhorou em 76%, permitindo que os especialistas de RH se concentrem em candidatos de alto valor em vez da filtragem manual. A economia de custos alcançou 25%, principalmente devido à redução da dependência de agências externas e à automação dos processos administrativos de contratação. A retenção de funcionários aumentou em 15%, pois uma melhor correspondência entre candidatos e vagas resultou em uma diminuição da taxa de evasão no primeiro ano. Além disso, as avaliações orientadas por IA ajudaram a minimizar o viés inconsciente nas decisões de contratação, resultando em uma melhoria de 38% na precisão da contratação.

“Com a IA, não estamos apenas contratando mais rápido, estamos contratando de forma mais inteligente”, disse Gracy Chen, CEO da Bitget. “Essa tecnologia está nos ajudando a atrair os melhores talentos com mais eficiência, otimizando custos e melhorando a retenção de longo prazo.”

A transformação de contratação de IA da Bitget ressalta como a automação pode aumentar a eficiência da força de trabalho em setores altamente competitivos. Ao integrar a IA ao recrutamento, a empresa estabeleceu um novo padrão de eficiência, precisão e economia, oferecendo um modelo que pode reformular as estratégias de aquisição de talentos nos setores de criptomoedas e tecnologia.

Para saber mais sobre o uso da IA da Bitget na contratação, confira o relatório completo aqui.

Sobre a Bitget

Fundada em 2018, a Bitget é líder em bolsa de criptomoedas e empresa Web3 do mundo. Atendendo mais de 100 milhões de usuários em mais de 150 países e regiões, a Bitget está comprometida em ajudar os usuários a negociar de maneira mais inteligente com seu recurso pioneiro de copy trading e outras soluções de operação, enquanto oferece acesso em tempo real ao preço do Bitcoin, Ethereum e outros preços de criptomoedas. Anteriormente conhecida como BitKeep, a Bitget Wallet é uma carteira de criptomoedas multicadeia de nível mundial que oferece uma variedade de soluções e recursos abrangentes da Web3, incluindo funcionalidade de carteira, troca de tokens, Marketplace de NFTs, navegador DApp e muito mais.

A Bitget está na vanguarda da adoção de criptomoedas por meio de parcerias estratégicas, como seu papel como parceira oficial de criptomoedas da melhor liga de futebol do mundo, LALIGA, nos mercados do ORIENTE, SUDESTE ASIÁTICO e AMÉRICA LATINA, bem como parceira global de atletas nacionais turcos Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (campeã mundial de luta livre), Samet Gümüş (medalhista de ouro no boxe) e İlkin Aydın (seleção nacional de vôlei), para inspirar a comunidade global a abraçar o futuro da criptomoeda.

Para mais informações, acesse: Site | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord | Bitget Wallet

Para comunicação social, entre em contato com: [email protected]

Aviso de risco: os preços dos ativos digitais podem flutuar e sofrer volatilidade de preços. Invista somente o que pode perder. O valor de qualquer investimento pode ser afetado e existe a possibilidade de que os objetivos financeiros não sejam alcançados, nem o investimento principal recuperado. Aconselhamento financeiro independente deve sempre ser procurado, e a experiência financeira pessoal e a posição devem ser cuidadosamente consideradas. O desempenho passado não é um indicador confiável de resultados futuros. A Bitget não se responsabiliza por possíveis perdas incorridas. O conteúdo deste documento não deve ser interpretado como orientação financeira. Para mais informações, consulte nossos Termos de uso.

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GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1001050551)

Grâce à l’IA, Bitget améliore l’efficacité de son recrutement et réduit ses délais d’embauche de 38 %

VICTORIA, Seychelles, 26 févr. 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitget, la principale Bourse de cryptomonnaies et société Web3, a publié un rapport mettant en avant l’impact révolutionnaire de l’intelligence artificielle sur son processus de recrutement. Les conclusions du rapport révèlent que l’utilisation de l’IA par Bitget a permis de réduire ses délais d’embauche de 38 %, de rationaliser l’acquisition de talents et d’améliorer l’adéquation entre candidats et emplois à pourvoir, améliorant ainsi considérablement l’efficacité de la main–d’œuvre.

Principaux points à retenir

  • L’intégration de l’IA dans le processus de recrutement a réduit de 38 % les délais moyens d’embauche de Bitget.
  • L’analyse des CV par l’IA a réduit le traitement manuel de 76 %, ce qui a permis au service des RH de se concentrer sur les candidats les plus qualifiés.
  • Grâce aux flux de travail automatisés, les coûts de recrutement ont diminué de 25 %.
  • La fidélisation du personnel s’est améliorée de 15 %, car une meilleure adéquation entre candidats et postes à pourvoir a conduit à un taux d’attrition plus faible au cours de la première année.
  • Grâce à l’IA, le classement des candidats et l’adéquation entre compétences et postes ont amélioré la précision du recrutement et réduit de 38 % les biais dans les décisions d’embauche.

Souvent, les méthodes de recrutement traditionnelles impliquent des cycles de recrutement lents, des coûts élevés ainsi que des inadéquations entre candidats et postes à pourvoir. Bitget a mis en œuvre une solution de recrutement basée sur l’IA qui automatise la sélection des CV, la planification des entretiens ainsi que l’évaluation des candidats. Grâce à l’apprentissage automatique et à l’analyse prédictive, la plateforme a optimisé les décisions d’embauche en fonction de la compatibilité des compétences avec les postes à pourvoir, des performances passées et de l’adéquation culturelle. Cette transition vers le recrutement basé sur l’IA a accéléré le processus d’embauche de l’entreprise tout en maintenant des normes de sélection élevées.

Avant la mise en œuvre du recrutement basé sur l’IA, Bitget s’appuyait sur la sélection manuelle des candidats et sur des agences de recrutement externes, ce qui rendait le recrutement coûteux et chronophage. Le cycle d’embauche moyen durait 48 jours, certains postes techniques nécessitant jusqu’à 50 jours pour être pourvus. La dépendance élevée de l’entreprise aux agences tierces représentait près de 40 % du coût total de recrutement, tandis que les équipes RH internes traitaient jusqu’à 500 CV par mois, générant des inefficacités opérationnelles. Malgré la croissance rapide de l’entreprise, ses méthodes de recrutement traditionnelles limitaient sa capacité à se déployer de manière efficace sur de nouveaux marchés et secteurs de produits.

Afin de relever ces défis, Bitget a mis en place un système de recrutement basé sur l’IA. Conçu dans le but de rationaliser le recrutement, il automatise la sélection des CV, optimise la mise en correspondance entre candidats et postes à pourvoir, et améliore le processus de prise de décision. Le modèle d’IA utilisé par Bitget a d’abord été entrainé à l’aide d’un historique de données de recrutement afin d’évaluer des indicateurs clés tels que la compatibilité des compétences, les performances antérieures et l’adéquation culturelle. Après son intégration aux systèmes RH existants, cette technologie a permis d’obtenir un classement et une sélection rapides des candidats tout en réduisant les biais humains.

Les résultats ont été significatifs. Le délai moyen d’embauche a baissé de 38 %, réduisant les cycles de recrutement de 48 à 30 jours. Grâce à une amélioration de 76 % de l’efficacité de la sélection des CV, les spécialistes des RH peuvent désormais se concentrer sur les candidats à forte valeur ajoutée plutôt que sur le filtrage manuel. Les économies de coûts ont atteint 25 %, principalement en raison d’une moindre dépendance à l’égard des agences externes et de l’automatisation des processus administratifs de recrutement. La fidélisation du personnel s’est améliorée de 15 %, car une meilleure adéquation entre candidats et emplois à pourvoir a entraîné une diminution de l’attrition au cours de la première année. En outre, les évaluations par l’IA ont réduit les biais inconscients dans les décisions d’embauche, améliorant ainsi la précision des recrutements de 38 %.

« Grâce à l’IA, non seulement nos recrutements ont gagné en rapidité, mais ils sont aussi plus intelligents », a déclaré Gracy Chen, PDG de Bitget. « Cette technologie nous aide à attirer les meilleurs talents avec une efficacité accrue, tout en optimisant les coûts et en améliorant la fidélisation du personnel à long terme. »

Cette transformation du processus de recrutement mise en œuvre par Bitget grâce à l’IA souligne la manière dont l’automatisation peut améliorer l’efficacité de la main–d’œuvre dans des secteurs hautement compétitifs. En intégrant l’IA à son processus de recrutement, l’entreprise a fixé un nouveau standard en matière d’efficacité, de précision et de rentabilité. Elle offre désormais un modèle qui pourrait remodeler les stratégies d’acquisition de talents dans les secteurs de la cryptomonnaie et de la technologie.

Pour en savoir plus sur l’utilisation de l’IA par Bitget dans le cadre de son processus de recrutement, consultez le rapport complet ici.

À propos de Bitget

Fondée en 2018, Bitget est la première Bourse de cryptomonnaies et société Web3 au monde. Au service de plus de 100 millions d’utilisateurs répartis dans plus de 150 pays et régions, Bitget s’engage à aider les utilisateurs à trader plus intelligemment grâce à sa fonctionnalité révolutionnaire de copy trading et à ses autres solutions de trading, tout en fournissant un accès en temps réel aux cours du Bitcoin, de l’Ethereum et d’autres cryptomonnaies. Anciennement connu sous le nom de BitKeep, Bitget Wallet est un portefeuille cryptographique multi–chaînes de classe mondiale qui offre une gamme complète de solutions et de fonctionnalités Web3, et notamment des fonctionnalités de portefeuille, d’échange de jetons, de marché NFT, de navigateur DApp, entre autres.

Bitget est le fer de lance de l’adoption des cryptomonnaies grâce à des partenariats stratégiques, comme en témoigne son rôle de partenaire crypto officiel de la meilleure ligue de football au monde, LA LIGA, sur les marchés de l’Est, de l’Asie du Sud–Est et de l’Amérique latine, ainsi qu’en tant que partenaire mondial des athlètes olympiques turcs Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (champion du monde de lutte), Samet Gümüş (médaille d’or de boxe) et İlkin Aydın (équipe nationale de volley–ball). Bitget a pour vocation d’inciter la population mondiale à adopter les cryptomonnaies, symboles d’avenir.

Pour obtenir de plus amples informations, consultez : Site Internet | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord | Bitget Wallet

Pour les demandes de renseignements des médias, veuillez contacter : [email protected]

Mise en garde sur les risques : les cours des actifs numériques peuvent fluctuer et connaître une forte volatilité. Il est recommandé aux investisseurs d’investir uniquement la somme qu’ils peuvent se permettre de perdre. La valeur des investissements peut être affectée et il est possible que les objectifs financiers ne soient pas atteints ou que le capital investi ne soit pas récupéré. Nous vous encourageons à toujours solliciter les conseils d’un spécialiste indépendant de la finance et à tenir compte de votre expérience et de votre situation financière. Les performances passées ne constituent pas un indicateur fiable des résultats futurs. Bitget décline toute responsabilité envers toute perte potentielle encourue. Nulle disposition des présentes ne saurait être interprétée comme un conseil d’ordre financier. Pour tout complément d’information, veuillez consulter nos Conditions d’utilisation.

Une photo accompagnant cette annonce est disponible à l’adresse suivante : http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6645e120–7461–4af0–9253–b5353f2d5350


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How AI Can Help Both Tax Collectors and Taxpayers

Credit: Cynthia R Matonhodze/IMF Photo

By Thomas Cantens and Herve Tourpe
WASHINGTON DC, Feb 26 2025 – New technologies have the potential to improve the relationship between governments and citizens. Tax portals, customs IT systems and online services have simplified interactions with public authorities, reduced bureaucratic hurdles, and increased transparency. Now, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is emerging as the next transformative force.

Known for its ability to understand and produce human language, GenAI opens possibilities that go beyond simple automation. However, in an area as politically sensitive as taxation, it also raises important questions that could quickly undermine trust.

Tax authorities are beginning to explore GenAI, though most efforts are still at an early, experimental stage. The most evident area so far has been on improving communication with taxpayers.

In Singapore, a virtual assistant answers tax questions in multiple languages and has cut call-center inquiries by half. Korea has deployed an AI guide to help citizens file and pay taxes. In France, AI can analyze incoming emails and propose draft responses for civil servants to validate.

While these applications are promising, a more profound question emerges: Can GenAI significantly alter the relationship between governments and citizens? Furthermore, how will it influence the way citizens experience and perceive taxation—a politically sensitive process that is governed by law yet deeply intertwined with social norms and practices?

What’s new with GenAI?

Most AI systems currently used by tax and customs authorities are predictive and built for a single function. They analyze large sets of structured data—like past tax declarations or transactions—to produce things like risk scores to indicate possible fraud.

By contrast, GenAI is a generalist system that understands almost all forms of information and is designed to interact with humans in any language. It can handle a range of tasks, from drafting letters to providing interactive guidance about tax regulations and assisting officers in their investigations.

By training a GenAI agent with legal texts, tax codes, operating procedures, and internal guidelines, administrations can adapt it to specific needs. The result is a dynamic system capable of understanding and producing content that both civil servants and taxpayers can interact with.

Transforming the State-Society Relationship

While AI tools already in use often enhance efficiency, they have not fundamentally changed the way revenue authorities work or engage with citizens. They mostly replaced manual tasks or systems for econometric or statistical modelling.

With GenAI, there are more profound implications. Internally, it can help tax and customs officials to focus on analytical and judgment-based roles, allowing them to become oversight specialists and increasing their productivity.

Externally, it can reduce the knowledge gap between administrations and taxpayers, aiding in the interpretation of complex provisions, navigating laws, identifying deductions, and even auto-filling forms.

For low-income countries, GenAI offers the opportunity to drive organizational reforms and leapfrog into the most modern systems. For example, in Madagascar, the customs authority wants to use GenAI to improve risk management, combat fraud and increase revenue, using data accumulated over 10 years to train its system.

The human-like interactions offered by AI chat tools can personalize the process, as shown in Singapore and Korea, where users can ask questions and receive plain language replies. Citizens’ organizations, academics, and political parties can also use GenAI to examine proposed reforms, compare scenarios, and engage in deeper policy debates.

This two-way transformation could increase overall trust, making taxation feel less like a frustrating obligation and more like a shared responsibility of both taxpayers and governments.

Preconditions for success

Despite its potential, GenAI also comes with challenges. Issues related to data quality, ethics, privacy concerns and hallucinations (i.e., incorrect results) must be addressed to reinforce and not erode trust. For instance, Korea’s approach—directing particularly sensitive queries to human agents—reflects the need for careful oversight of confidential matters. Results must be explainable and perceived as fair in all cases.

Effective knowledge management is another requirement. Revenue authorities have extensive laws, regulations, case records, and operational manuals. However, scattered archives and incomplete digitization can hamper efforts to train AI systems effectively. A human must determine which documents are accurate, relevant, and suitable for inclusion in the training material.

As GenAI becomes integrated into various aspects of revenue administration, employees will need to be trained to interpret, correct, and complement its outputs. Policymakers must ensure that errors are reported and addressed promptly.

By providing human-like capabilities to support taxpayers and tax authorities, GenAI can act as both taxman and taxpayer assistant, automating routine tasks, clarifying complex issues, and fostering a more transparent and collaborative relationship.

This technology can lower administrative hurdles, demystify tax obligations, and invite broader participation in policy debates. However, shaping it properly requires strong leadership, ethical policy frameworks, and vigilant oversight of data quality, privacy, and accuracy.

Thomas Cantens is head of research and policy unit at the World Customs Organization; Herve Tourpe is Chief of Digital Advisory Unit, International Monetary Fund (IMF).

IPS UN Bureau

 


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Hortolandia Emerges as an Energy and Environmental City in Brazil

The cable-stayed bridge of Hortolandia, a symbol of the modernization of this southern Brazilian city, alongside tall buildings and the city’s extensive tree cover, which has made it a model of sustainable urban development. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

The cable-stayed bridge of Hortolandia, a symbol of the modernization of this southern Brazilian city, alongside tall buildings and the city’s extensive tree cover, which has made it a model of sustainable urban development. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

By Mario Osava
HORTOLANDIA, Brazil , Feb 26 2025 – Almost everything seems new or under construction in the southern Brazilian city of Hortolandia, from its wide avenues and cable-stayed bridge to its large buildings and riverside parks.

Even the city hall itself, the Palace of Migrants, will celebrate its first anniversary on May 29, and its main parking lot is still under construction, but already bears the city’s new hallmark: solar panels on its roofs.

A municipality of 240,000 people located 110 kilometers from São Paulo, Hortolandia seized the opportunity presented by cost-effective technology and legal incentives to generate its own electricity for public sector consumption.“We want to grow, but also preserve. The city must care for its environment, seek new ways to think about energy, water, and consumption”: Donizete Faria.

The 21 photovoltaic plants built since 2023, some in the final stages of completion, will save 80% of the city hall’s electricity costs, according to Fernanda Candido de Oliveira, director of the Lighting Department of the municipal Public Works Board.

The remaining 20% will be covered by the energy efficiency program, which began earlier and has already replaced all old urban lighting with LED lamps. In this way, the city will become self-sufficient in electricity, limiting expenses in this area to distribution network usage fees and maintenance costs.

In addition to the 26,500 public lighting points, the self-generation system will power 200 municipal service locations, saving approximately 4.5 million reais (US$ 800,000) annually, which will be reinvested in various sectors of local administration.

Fourteen schools, four health units and a sports stadium have their roofs covered with solar panels. In total, 5,000 panels are already generating energy, and others already installed will soon begin operation.

The city hall will house three photovoltaic plants, one on its roof and two in its parking lots, one of which is still under construction. In total, it will have 1,800 panels.

The plant for the new social events center, which is nearing completion, will have 1,568 solar panels already visible from the cable-stayed bridge, whose two parallel decks of aerial cables are suspended by three horizontal connecting columns, a structure that symbolizes Hortolandia’s modernization.

The parking lot of the Hortolandia city hall, still under construction, features photovoltaic panels on its roofs, one of the 21 solar plants that will generate 80% of the electricity consumed in the 200 municipal offices and public lighting systems. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

The parking lot of the Hortolandia city hall, still under construction, features photovoltaic panels on its roofs, one of the 21 solar plants that will generate 80% of the electricity consumed in the 200 municipal offices and public lighting systems. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Economy and Environment
The primary goal of the program is economic, saving resources for other areas, but it also benefits the population, Oliveira noted. “The energy efficiency of LED lamps allowed us to grant a 10% reduction in residents’ electricity bills,” she explained.

“We were the ugly duckling of the Campinas metropolitan region,” which includes 20 municipalities and a total of 3.5 million inhabitants, but “now we are a unique case in these innovations,” a reference point, she proudly stated.

“Solar energy hit the mark, an extraordinary achievement,” said Dirson Pereira da Silva, the receptionist at the Santa Clara Ecological Park, which features a lagoon at its center.

After 36 years living in a city that “buried all its streams,” Araraquara, 170 kilometers away, he returned to his hometown and his passion for the lagoon in 2023.

The seven parks in Hortolandia, most of them designed to protect watercourses, confirm its environmental vocation, which also underpins its commitment to solar energy.

The municipality has identified over 50 springs and strives to conserve or restore them as needed, according to Eduardo Marchetti, Secretary of Urban Planning and Strategic Management. This requires maintaining or expanding riparian forests.

Hortolandia is a “tree city” recognized in 2023 by the international Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Washington that seeks to reforest the world.

An ecological park around the Santa Clara lagoon, where residents and students stroll and visit the Environmental Observatory, an important center for nature preservation located in Hortolandia. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

An ecological park around the Santa Clara lagoon, where residents and students stroll and visit the Environmental Observatory, an important center for nature preservation located in Hortolandia. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Trees Against Floods

The city used to suffer from floods caused by the overflowing of the Jacuba stream, with frequent losses for riverside residents and businesses. This was overcome by building four reservoirs and caring for the springs and riparian forests, recalled Marchetti, who has lived in the municipality since birth.

Trees are also a requirement for financing from international banks. For example, to build the cable-stayed bridge, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) required the planting of 120,000 trees as a condition for its soft loan.

“Maintaining green parks has its costs. We lost 30,000 trees due to lack of care, such as removing weeds that take their nutrients,” Marchetti noted.

Hortolândia was founded in 1991 after separating from Sumaré, a municipality of 280,000 inhabitants. Its territory is small, covering 62.4 square kilometers.

“In the 1970s, we were a rural area that received many industries, especially in the 1980s. This led to a population explosion, accompanied by high violence, reaching 102 murders per 100,000 inhabitants,” recalled Josemil Rodrigues, a journalist who advises Mayor José Nazareno Gomes.

Fernanda Candido de Oliveira, director of public lighting, with the engineer and systems analyst who control the electricity generation system of Hortolandia’s city hall. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Fernanda Candido de Oliveira, director of public lighting, with the engineer and systems analyst who control the electricity generation system of Hortolandia’s city hall. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Planning for Transformation
The development of the new city received a significant boost starting in 2005 under Mayor Angelo Perugini, “a visionary” to his supporters.

In 2005, sewage coverage was limited to 2% of wastewater; now it reaches 98%, with 100% treatment. Only 40% of the streets were paved; now 99% are, and homicides have dropped to 13 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data provided by the journalist.

“Long-term planning was key. Hortolandia’s vocation is to be a smart and sustainable city,” he stated. Solar energy is part of this goal and has made the city a national reference, Rodrigues emphasized.

The photovoltaic panels are a logical consequence of the environmental vision of the city’s leaders. The current mayor, Gomes, was the Environment Secretary under his predecessor, Perugini, who was elected four times starting in 2005 and died of COVID-19 in 2021, at the beginning of a new municipal term.

Additionally, environmental education is a priority in the “political-pedagogical project” of all municipal schools, observed Donizete Faria, director of the Department of Pedagogy and Continuing Education at the Education Secretariat.

Eduardo Marchetti, Secretary of Urban Planning and Strategic Management of Hortolandia, where seven ecological parks and forests protect the southern Brazilian city from floods and improve local quality of life. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Eduardo Marchetti, Secretary of Urban Planning and Strategic Management of Hortolandia, where seven ecological parks and forests protect the southern Brazilian city from floods and improve local quality of life. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

Solar energy is too recent to assess its impact on education, but energy efficiency has been a permanent topic in schools for many years, including through visits to ecological parks and the Environmental Observatory, a specialized center located in Santa Clara Park.

The fact that 14 schools have solar plants on their roofs will help “children take ownership of the photovoltaic panels, see them, and have hands-on lessons about renewable energy and consumption,” Faria hopes.

“We want to grow, but also preserve. The city must care for its environment, seek new ways to think about energy, water, and consumption,” he concluded.

The operation and maintenance of the photovoltaic network installed in the city cost little. Systems analyst Alessandro Alves monitors everything from his computer connected to all the plants, and electrical engineer Renan Queiroz intervenes if repairs are needed.

Since the plants have a guaranteed lifespan of 25 years and the inverters last 10 years, there will be no pressing concerns, such as equipment disposal or recycling, for many years, Queiroz reassured.

Hortolandia’s urban master plan has an environmental focus, due to flooding and the need to manage water resources, Marchetti explained. Water reuse, green roofs, and solar energy are part of the tax incentives for property owners.

The new plan, already approved, maintains the focus on the environment but adds technological innovations. “We are a technological city,” with several IT and pharmaceutical companies, concluded the Secretary of Urban Planning.