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Florianopolis

 
Rio de Janeiro

Florianopolis

Sao Paulo

Blumenau

 

About the City of Florianopolis  

City Summary of Florianópolis

 

Capital city of Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Located on the southeastern part of Brazil.
Estimated population over 900,000 people and growing.
Original name was ‘Nossa Senhora do Desterro (Our Lady of Banishment) until 1894.
Changed to current name Florianópolis as to dedicate to Brazil’s 2nd president, Floriano Peixoto (1891 – 1894). 
First colonized by Portuguese immigrants from the Island of Azores.
Economy is composed of tourism but quickly developing IT service market on a global platform.

IT Cluster Relevance

            The IT clusters of Florianópolis consist of many business segments, entities, and global influences.  The clusters are collocated and co-dependent which positively affects productivity, creates access to supplies, and generates rapid innovation. 

What is an IT cluster?
A relationship of different business entities that produce high quality products and services.

IT cluster (Florianopolis) consists of:

§  Brazilian government entities

§  Universities (i.e.; The Federal University of Santa Catarina UFSC)

§  IT service companies

§  IT organizational entities

§  Neighboring cities such as Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo.

Cluster Development

UFSC and similar educational institutions are the main reason why there is a developing IT cluster in Florianópolis along with the proper infrastructure.  Universities are often a driving factor to cluster formation. They provide:

Ø  Education in the knowledge and skills to become qualified to work at technology companies or establish new IT companies

Ø   Research and development among students and professors

Ø   Incubators to foster entrepreneurship and new IT competitors

In Harvard University, business professor Michael Porter’s example of the Australian wine cluster, the first player on the timeline was an educational institution.  UFSC started as the as the Polytechnic Institute of Florianópolis in 1917 and became the Federal University of Santa Catarina in the early 1960s.  Today, UFSC is the third largest university in Brazil and is ranked fourth overall in Latin America.  It has strong programs in IT related subjects and emphasizes preparation through real world experience in the form of required internships.

Contributed to the city’s identity by improving the quality of life.
Located near São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as Brazil’s leading economic and population centers.
IT clusters in Florianópolis are continuing to develop and rapidly becoming the IT center point of Brazil’s gateway to a growing global platform.

 

Federal University of Santa Catarina UFSC

            UFSC’s areas of study include but are not limited to engineering, computer science, telemedicine, automation systems, math/statistics, and information systems.  UFSC provides the highly trained talent pool of individuals that companies need to be productive and innovative. 

Provides collaboration with private and public companies for a fee.
University students have the opportunity to work on real-life issues.
Entice companies with:

Low rental fees.
Modern research and development labs.
Unlimited resource to new innovation ideas from university students.
Opportunity to be hired from sponsoring companies.
Serves as IT business generator via in-house incubator program for university students.

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IS 597 Study Abroad, Brazil DePaul University

1 East Jackson Chicago, Illinois 60604