FIOCRUZ - ICICT

What FIOCRUZ - ICICT does

FIOCRUZ - ICICT (Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde) is a public research institute within Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz), Brazil's leading public health research foundation under the Ministry of Health. Established in 1984 and headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, ICICT operates as Fiocruz's unit for scientific communication, health information, and data science, serving graduate students, academic researchers, SUS public health professionals, and Brazilian citizens. With approximately 188 employees, it manages a portfolio spanning institutional repositories (Arca), the PCDaS data science platform for health, multiple observatories (climate-health, childhood, mental health), three physical libraries, a graduate program (PPGICS), and an open-access scientific journal (RECIIS).

ICICT's core technical asset is PCDaS (Plataforma de Ciência de Dados Aplicada à Saúde), a data science platform that aggregates and processes population-level Brazilian health data from national systems including SIM (mortality), SINASC (births), SIH (hospitalizations), CNES (health establishments), and SINAN (notifiable diseases). The platform provides R and Python code sets for remote data analysis, Jupyter Hub execution environments, and integration with Google Colab. AI/ML capabilities are embedded in specific products: NLP-based social media monitoring across 100,000+ blogs for COVID-19 digital epidemiology (Pandemia na Internet), predictive analytics for the HeatWave climate-health panel, and ML research through the LNCC DEXL partnership.

ICICT operates as a non-commercial government entity. All services — including library access, PCDaS platform access, observatories, educational programs, and publications — are provided free of charge under Fiocruz's Open Access to Knowledge Policy. The institute is funded through federal government budget allocations via Fiocruz and the Brazilian Ministry of Health, with no commercial revenue, user fees, or private investment. Its go-to-market is community-led: it reaches researchers and data scientists via free self-serve platform registration, students via the graduate program and library services, and the public via social media channels (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X), open-access publications, and educational kits.

Name

FIOCRUZ - ICICT

Legal name

Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde

Website

https://icict.fiocruz.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ICICT is a public research institute within Fiocruz (Brazil's Ministry of Health) that operates the PCDaS health data science platform, the Arca institutional repository, three libraries, and a graduate program in health information and communication, serving SUS workers, researchers, and Brazilian citizens free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Research & Information Services

NAICS

Administration of Public Health Programs (92312), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Libraries and Archives (51921)

akta.pro primary industry

Biomedical Sciences & Medical Research Institutes (University-Based) (EDAHAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health Data, Vital Statistics & Population Health Informatics (BPAIAJAM), Health Informatics & Digital Health Programs (EDAHAGAJ)

Keywords

• Public health research
• Health data platform
• Scientific communication
• Open access repository
• Health informatics

Headquarters

HQ city

Rio de Janeiro

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Institutional Funding: ICICT operates as a public research institute within Fiocruz, funded through the Brazilian Ministry of Health and federal government budget allocations. Services including library access, data platforms, and educational programs are provided free of charge to users.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ICICT (Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde) operates as a public health research institute within Fiocruz, providing data science platforms (PCDaS), scientific repositories (Arca), health observatories, library services, and graduate academic programs in health information and communication. The institute aggregates national health databases (SIM, SINASC, SIH, CNES) and offers analytical tools, open-access publications, and educational resources to researchers, public health professionals, and the general public.

Product overview

ICICT (Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde) is a research institute within Fiocruz that operates as a comprehensive health information and communication platform. The core offering is PCDaS (Plataforma de Ciência de Dados aplicada à Saúde), a data science platform providing access to large health databases with interactive analysis tools. Supporting this platform are repositories (Arca for institutional works), observatories (Climate and Health, Infância, Mental Health), and specialized information systems (Sisapi for elderly health indicators, Proadess for health systems, Sisdef for disability). The institute also maintains an extensive library network including physical libraries (Manguinhos, Public Health, Women's and Children's Health), virtual library services, and the Catálogo Mourisco unified catalog. Educational offerings include the PPGICS graduate program, training courses, and educational games (Trajetórias Negras, Caminhos de Oswaldo, Imune). Communication products include VideoSaúde audiovisual collection, RECIIS scientific journal, Fiocruz360 virtual tours, and Porto Livre open access books. All offerings are governed by Fiocruz's Open Access to Knowledge Policy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PCDaS: Plataforma de Ciência de Dados aplicada à Saúde - A data science platform for health that provides access to health databases and analytical tools.
• PPGICS
• Arca
• VideoSaúde
• RECIIS
• Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde

Products and services

• PCDaS (Plataforma de Ciência de Dados aplicada à Saúde) A data science platform that aggregates large volumes of Brazilian national health data with electronic analysis tools, providing interactive dashboards for visualization, selection, and extraction of treated health databases for researchers and public health professionals.
• Arca Repository Online open-access institutional repository of Fiocruz containing articles, theses, games, videos, and other scientific documents available to the public.
• VideoSaúde Distribuidora Audiovisual collection and distribution service featuring videos, documentaries, debates, and animations on health topics distributed to institutions, schools, and the general public.
• RECIIS (Revista de Comunicação, Informação e Inovação em Saúde) Scientific journal of the institute publishing articles, essays, interviews, and editorials on health communication and innovation.
• Observatório de Clima e Saúde Observatory presenting maps, graphs, tables, and data relating health and climate conditions for researchers and policymakers.
• Observa Infância Observatory aggregating data on child medical assistance, breastfeeding, vaccination coverage, hospitalizations, and child mortality.
• Fiocruz360 Series of virtual tours with complete and strategic visits to different Fiocruz spaces for educational purposes.
• Porto Livre Platform of free access books on various topics, promoting open knowledge distribution for the general public.
• Sisapi (Sistema de Indicadores de Saúde do Idoso) System presenting indicators of different dimensions of elderly health and relating these data with public policies for health managers.
• Proadess Platform providing indicators, bulletins, publications, courses, events and material suggestions on health systems performance and evaluation.
• Biblioteca de Manguinhos Physical library providing user registration, interlibrary loans, database orientation, ISBN registration, and training services for Fiocruz researchers, students, and external users.
• Biblioteca de Saúde Pública Public health library providing catalog generation, ISBN requests, loan services, and training for students and researchers.
• Biblioteca da Saúde da Mulher e da Criança Specialized library for women's and children's health with catalog generation system (BibSMC) for academic works.
• Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde Integration space for health information sources, providing access to scientific databases and journals for researchers and students.
• PPGICS (Programa de Pós-Graduação em Informação e Comunicação em Saúde) Graduate Program in Health Information and Communication offering master's and doctoral degrees, with information on professors, research lines, and events.
• Monitora Covid-19 System that groups and cross-references data on COVID-19 in Brazil and worldwide, allowing monitoring of pandemic trends by states and municipalities through interactive graphs and maps.
• Saúde Mental Pública Digital Platform for monitoring mental health issues through data science, developed by the Health Information Laboratory (LIS).
• Kit SUS nas Escolas Educational kit containing films on USB drive, games, children's books, and support material for teachers about the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).
• BibSMC System for automatic generation of catalog sheets for theses, dissertations, and course completion works following ABNT standards and AACR2 cataloging rules.
• FioDMP Platform for management and sharing of research data used by Fiocruz researchers.

Quantifiable outcome

• PCDaS provides access to datasets covering decades of Brazilian health data including mortality, births, hospitalizations, and health establishments across 5,570+ municipalities
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• McMaster University (Canada)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMcMaster University collaborated with LIS/Icict/Fiocruz researchers to build keyword frameworks for the COVID-19 and Mental Health monitoring panel, providing international academic expertise in health information science.
• Secretaria Nacional de Mobilidade e Serviços Urbanos (Semob/MDR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Brazil's National Secretariat for Urban Mobility and Urban Services under the Ministry of Regional Development to develop and maintain the Sistema Nacional de Informações em Mobilidade Urbana (SIMU), integrating urban mobility data into PCDaS panels.
• Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE)coreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Brazil's national statistics agency to integrate Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde (PNS) survey data into PCDaS, providing national-level health and lifestyle data for research.
• Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica (LNCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLNCC collaborates on the Extreme Data Lab (DEXL) project for research and development of machine learning algorithms applied to health, and on the modelagem e análise de trajetórias de pacientes project using multi-aspect graphs.
• Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUFRJ researchers collaborated with ICICT on academic publications regarding informational disorder and information integrity, and on mental health studies comparing university students and non-students in Brazil.
• Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUFRGS researchers collaborated with Fiocruz and Science on a comparative study of mental health disorders among university students and non-students in Brazil.
• Núcleo de Informação, Políticas Públicas e Inclusão Social (NIPPIS/UNIFASE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIPPIS is a research and training nucleus established through a collaboration agreement between Fiocruz and UNIFASE/FMP (Faculdade de Medicina de Petrópolis) since 2015, developing the SISDEF (National Information System on Disability).
• Open Knowledge Brazil (Querido Diário)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with the Querido Diário initiative to strengthen the data science community in Brazil, mapping the university research ecosystem and documenting requirements for structuring academic-to-open-source project workflows.
• Harva Data Science Initiative (Harvard University)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHarvard's interdisciplinary data science research and teaching program supports PCDaS partnership network by fostering international data science collaborations for health.
• Ministério da Saúde / Ouvidoria-Geral do SUS (OuvSUS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to apply data science to the Ouvidoria-Geral do SUS, aiming to guarantee and expand citizens' access to their health rights, acting as a management tool and strengthening social control in the Brazilian health system.
• Instituto Nacional de Saúde da Mulher, Criança e Adolescente Fernandes Figueira (IFF/Fiocruz)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIFF/Fiocruz collaborated with ICICT's CTIC and Biblioteca da Saúde da Mulher e da Criança to develop the BibSMC catalog sheet generation system, adapted for graduate students of the institution.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Wellcome Trust: A major UK-based charitable foundation funding health research globally and operating open access platforms (e.g., Wellcome Open Research). Comparable as a large public-interest funder and operator of open-access health research dissemination infrastructure, though with substantially larger global scope than ICICT.
• Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz) — parent: ICICT's parent organization, Brazil's most prestigious public health research institution, with ~10,000+ employees, multiple research institutes, vaccine production, and hospitals. Comparable as the broader institutional context within which ICICT operates and shares brand, funding, and infrastructure.
• NIH (US National Institutes of Health): The largest public funder of biomedical research globally, operating PubMed Central, clinical trials registries, and population health data platforms. Comparable as a federal government research institution that funds, produces, and disseminates health research at massive scale.
• PAHO (Pan American Health Organization): Regional WHO office for the Americas that funds and operates public health information systems, including BIREME. Comparable as a larger international public health organization running similar information and surveillance functions at regional scale.

Others

• CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel): Brazilian federal agency under the Ministry of Education that evaluates and funds graduate programs and maintains the Sucupira platform. Comparable as a federal public entity managing graduate education oversight and research information systems, though its primary mandate is program evaluation rather than scientific communication.

Direct peers

• SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online): A leading open-access academic publishing platform widely used across Latin America for scientific journals and repositories. Comparable to ICICT's Arca repository and RECIIS journal operations as both run open-access scholarly content infrastructure serving the same regional research community.
• DataSUS (Department of Informatics of SUS): The Brazilian Ministry of Health's informatics arm that operates DATASUS health information systems including mortality (SIM), births (SINASC), and hospitalizations (SIH) — the exact data feeds that PCDaS aggregates. Highly comparable as both operate health data infrastructure for SUS, though DataSUS is upstream (producing data) and ICICT is downstream (analyzing and publishing).
• BIREME (Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information): A PAHO/WHO specialized center that operates the Virtual Health Library and scientific information services for Latin America. Highly comparable to ICICT as both run regional/national health information repositories, indexing services, and scientific communication infrastructure for public health systems.
• IBICT (Brazilian Institute of Scientific and Technological Information): Brazilian federal institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology that operates scientific information systems, repositories, and open access infrastructure. Directly comparable as a fellow Brazilian public research institute managing repositories, indexing services, and scientific communication platforms.

Regional players

• INCA (National Cancer Institute of Brazil): Another Brazilian Ministry of Health institute that operates cancer registries, surveillance systems, and research programs. Comparable as a fellow Fiocruz-adjacent public health institute running specialized data and research programs in Brazil, though focused on oncology rather than health information broadly.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Icict_Fiocruz
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@VIDEOSAUDEFIO
• Facebookfacebook.com/fiocruz.icict
• Instagraminstagram.com/icict_fiocruz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fiocruz---icict

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about FIOCRUZ - ICICT