Editorial

Abstract

Transforming Today to Engage with the Future of Innovation

 In a time when innovation is redefining the trajectory of humanity and reshaping the ways in which science, knowledge, and education are produced, while simultaneously transforming markets, territories, and ways of life, Cadernos de Prospecção publishes its June 2026 issue, reaffirming its commitment to a strategic, pluralistic, and socially relevant agenda.

The June 2026 issue arrives at a particularly significant moment in the global landscape, when innovation is no longer understood merely as the generation of new technologies. Increasingly, the focus of the debate has shifted toward the capacity to transform knowledge into social, economic, environmental, and cultural value; to disseminate technologies responsibly; to protect intellectual assets without restricting the qualified circulation of knowledge; and to build innovation systems that are more inclusive, sustainable, and strategically oriented.

It is within this context that the present issue should be read. It brings together 22 articles authored by 70 researchers affiliated with 18 institutions across 13 Brazilian states and all five regions of the country. These figures reflect the diversity, reach, and vitality of Brazilian scientific production in the fields of technological forecasting, intellectual property, technology transfer, innovation, and development.

The topics featured in this issue engage directly with some of the most significant contemporary transformations, including artificial intelligence, precision agriculture, bioprinting, public health, university governance, the gaming industry, hospital pharmacy, police intelligence, agribusiness security, bioeconomy, sustainability, biochar, natural assets, Geographical Indications, family farming, Technology Innovation Centers, and innovation public policies. This diversity demonstrates that innovation is not confined to laboratories, technology-based companies, or patent filings. It is also expressed in territories, public institutions, traditional production chains, educational practices, university management, healthcare systems, public security, culture, and the appreciation of local identities.

In June 2026, this discussion becomes even more timely, as artificial intelligence has begun to profoundly reshape research, scientific writing, data analysis, technological forecasting, editorial management, and academic evaluation. It can no longer be viewed merely as an instrumental tool, but rather as a cognitive infrastructure that transforms how knowledge is produced, validated, disseminated, and applied. For a journal dedicated to technological forecasting, intellectual property, and innovation, this scenario creates an additional responsibility: to foster critical, methodologically rigorous, and socially responsible reflections on the uses, limitations, and impacts of these technologies.

It is also worth noting that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in recent discussions on technology diffusion, has drawn attention to a central issue: technologies do not generate impact simply by existing. They must circulate, be appropriated, adapted, regulated, financed, understood, and incorporated by different social and economic actors. In this sense, intellectual property should not be viewed solely as a mechanism of protection, but as part of a broader architecture of development capable of connecting creativity, innovation, technology transfer, institutional trust, and competitiveness.

This perspective aligns directly with the mission of Cadernos de Prospecção, which is to contribute to understanding how scientific knowledge is transformed into institutional capacity, productive strategy, technological solutions, and social development. The current issue clearly demonstrates that Brazil possesses a plural and territorially distributed scientific agenda capable of engaging with international trends while maintaining sensitivity to its regional specificities.

Another fundamental dimension of the present moment is Open Science. Expanding access to, reuse of, and circulation of scientific knowledge has become essential for the credibility, transparency, and impact of academic journals. Open Science involves far more than simply making articles available. It encompasses metadata quality, interoperability, academic integrity, digital preservation, accessible research data whenever possible, editorial transparency, and engagement with society. In this regard, the editorial advances undertaken by this journal are not merely technical adjustments; they are part of a necessary transformation aimed at aligning the journal with contemporary standards of scholarly communication.

For this reason, we are experiencing a period of transformation within our journal. Transforming today means preparing Cadernos de Prospecção for a new stage of visibility, internationalization, and relevance. It means improving submission and evaluation workflows, strengthening peer review, enhancing scientific publishing practices, advancing the adoption of international standards, improving metadata consistency, reinforcing the Editorial Board, and creating conditions for broader inclusion in national and international indexing databases. More than seeking formal recognition, these efforts are intended to expand the circulation, readership, citation, and impact of the studies published in this journal.

This transformation is also connected to a broader agenda of digital sovereignty and international cooperation. In a world increasingly shaped by competition over data, digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and strategic technologies, scientific production must actively participate in discussions on governance, trust, regulation, and development. Contemporary innovation requires cooperation, but it also demands the capacity to generate knowledge, train specialists, protect intellectual assets, interpret emerging trends, and inform public policies.

Cadernos de Prospecção therefore occupies an important position within this ecosystem. Its contribution lies in bringing together research that connects science, technology, intellectual property, innovation, and society. The July 2026 issue reaffirms this mission by presenting a diverse, applied, and socially engaged body of work that addresses the country's real challenges.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the authors, reviewers, editors, technical staff, partner institutions, and readers who make this publication possible. This issue also announces the publication of a second editorial of a special nature, dedicated to Professor Eduardo Winter, whose career made a remarkable contribution to the field of intellectual property, to Brazilian graduate education, and to CAPES' interdisciplinary area.

May this issue strengthen scientific dialogue and inspire new research capable of transforming knowledge into development, innovation into inclusion, and intellectual property into a strategic asset for the future.

Professor Dr. Eduardo Meireles

National Coordinator of PROFNIT

Editor-in-Chief of Cadernos de Prospecção

Professor at the State University of Minas Gerais

Professor at the Paula Souza State Center for Technological Education