João Carlos Ferraz is Associate Professor at the Instituto de Economia, Universidade Federal do Rio Janeiro (IE/ UFRJ) since 1987. He served as Vice-President and Executive Director of the Brazilian Development Bank, BNDES, between 2007 and 2016. Previously (2003-2007) he was Director of the Division of Productive Development of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations, UN / ECLAC, in Chile.
His areas of expertise cover business strategies and competitiveness industrial and innovation development, technology foresight, development finance and industrial and innovation policies. Currently he is engaged in survey-based projects about the current and future adoption of digital devices by industrial firms of developing countries, their determinants, requirements and outcomes.
As a member of PILLARS Expert Stakeholder Group João Carlos hopes to contribute to discussions on how to overcome methodological challenges, how to interpret evidence arising from different research angles and how to draw out consequent policy implications.