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| Rio de Janeiro |
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IT Policy & Regulations (Rio) ○ Since the early 1990’s, Brazilian IT policy has changed substantially from greenhouse protectionism in selected segments of the market to a more liberal regime. These days, the Brazilian IT industry, particularly Rio de Janeiro, is aspiring to claim a more substantial slice of the outsourcing pie from that of China and India. Although this may seem like a tall feat, Brazil is more than ambitious to reach its goal. With more than 4,000 indigenous IT companies, Brazil is already the world's 12th largest producer of software and services, with official statistics suggesting an increase in export growth from $800 million in 2007 to $3 billion in 2009. The country's goal is to tally $5 billion in IT outsourcing revenue this year. ○ In addition to a growing business, Brazil also has a large pool of experience to draw from. The pool of IT expertise in Brazil is vast - about 1.7 million people are working in the area at present and about 100,000 graduates from ICT-related areas enter the workforce every year. However, English fluency is an issue that IT companies are willing to address by providing IT-specific English proficiency courses to sector professionals. Due to high taxes and a strong national currency, Brazil is cognizant of its high price tag for labor, but cites advantages that can offset the expenses, such as local IT staff turnover of 20% compared to India's 40%; stable political conditions; similar time-zones to North America and Europe; as well as a better cultural fit with clients in those regions than its Asian competitors. ○ As the above figures have demonstrated, Brazil is more than capable to claim its share of the outsourcing pie, but the success and future of its local IT industries is dependent upon its interaction with government policies concerning not only sector-specific incentives but also broader polices. ●
Challenges (Blumenau) ○ Off shoring director at the National Outsourcing Association, Mark Kobayashi-Hillary stated that “Naturally there are some disadvantages” when discussing Brazil’s IT business in comparison to their major competitors. He said, “Brazil has been focused on a booming domestic market for many years so the IT firms have not really needed to turn their attention to the outside world. This means that many firms are not ready to do business in English at all levels - even if all the people you get to meet can work in English rather than Portuguese.” In addition to the country’s infancy stage and aforementioned English fluency problems, when directly questioning companies in the IT city of Blumenau what their greatest IT challenges were, they responded with taxes. The Brazil tax system is a separate beast in its own with laws that continually change about every six months. Tax figures are also very high, specifically for companies grossing over 240,000 BRL annually. Tax laws also require a company to pay whatever an employee’s salary might be back to the government. All of these issues make it difficult for start up businesses to generate income and survive past infancy. Parque
Tecnológico do Rio – UFRJ: The
computer industry began in Blumenau with the company (Electronic
Center's Textile Industry). The
Regional University of Blumenau was also important to consolidate this
position, having been created in 1973, and the first university course
in Computer Science from the State of Santa Catarina and third in the
country. The
BLUSOFT Blumenau Polo Software was born from the concern of
entrepreneurs with the survival of businesses in the software industry
-- from the opening of the Brazilian markets for products and services,
to international companies. The
creation was immediately accepted, in concept, academic field, and by
the municipal government, which created the Commission COMSOFT Sector
Development Software Blumenau, in 1991. COMSOFT
was originally geared toward representing the interests of business
enterprises, fiscal and other indulgences as public instruments.
On June 22, 1992,
COMSOFT acquired legal personality and was transformed into BLUSOFT. By
late 1993, BLUSOFT started its own business incubator, which currently
has 17
companies. The
basic mission of BLUSOFT: ●
A
promoting technology center ●
Encourage o
The use of
equipment, software and high technology services to improve quality and
productivity of enterprises in the region; o
The development
of software aimed at export (SOFTEX 2000); o
The creation of
new jobs allowing the improvement of income distribution and economic
development. o
Cooperation
between companies and university. ●
Providing
the means for transforming ideas into prototypes, products and new
ventures can facilitate the sharing of physical space and infrastructure
to support existing and emerging companies. ●
Consolidate
and develop the business incubator, providing an environment capable of
providing technological and managerial. ●
Promote
the development of software projects, doing agreements with governmental
entities and programs. ●
Opportunity
training and upgrading of human resources to contribute to the technical
improvement of enterprises. ●
Seek
market expansion of telecom companies and associates, developing
business strategies at national and international levels. ●
To
support, strengthen and develop software products in Blumenau. Rio
History The Tamoio people were living on the land surrounding the Baía de Guanabara when Gaspar de Lemos sailed from Portugal for Brazil in May 1501 and entered the huge bay in January 1502. Mistaking the bay for a river, Lemos named it Rio de Janeiro. The Portuguese had set up a fortified town on the Morro Castelo in 1567 and, by the 17th century, Rio became Brazil’s third-most important settlement. African slaves streamed in and the sugar plantations thrived. Even more slaves arrived to work in the gold mines of Minas Gerais during the 18th century. In 1807, 40 ships carrying the Portuguese prince regent (later known as Dom João VI) and his entire court of 15, 000 set sail for Brazil. Upon arrival, he immediately took over the rule of Brazil from his viceroy. Dom João fell in love with Brazil. Even after he became king of Portugal, he remained and declared Rio the capital of the UK of Portugal, Brazil. This made Brazil the only New World colony to ever have a European monarch ruling on its soil. The early 1920s to the late 1950s were Rio’s golden age. Rio became a romantic, exotic destination for Hollywood celebrities and international high society who came to play and gamble at the casinos and dance or perform in the nightclubs. Rio remained the political capital of Brazil until 1960, when the government moved to Brasília. During the 1960s, modern skyscrapers rose in the city and some of Rio’s most beautiful buildings were lost. During the same period, the favelas (shantytowns) of Rio grew to critical mass with immigrants from poverty-stricken areas of the Northeast and the interior, swelling the number of Rio’s urban poor. The City began to lose its gloss as crime and violence increased. A turning point for Rio came when it was chosen as host city for Eco 92, the UN Conference on Environment and Development. In the build-up to the conference, the federal government poured in almost US$1 billion to improve Rio’s infrastructure. Approximately US$18 million was spent on satellite communications alone, and Riocentro, a huge convention center, was built. Today Rio’s coffers are full, and the city buzzes with an unstoppable creative energy, as long-awaited projects are finally being financed. The biggest is the Favela-Bairro project, which strives to integrate favelas into the rest of the city by providing basic sanitation and by planning leisure areas, health clinics, schools, preschools and community centers (Rio has pledged a total of US$1 billion over the life of the project). At the same time, some of Rio’s aging colonial gems are slowly being revitalized as new businesses arrive. Rio’s most recent makeover took place in preparation for the 2007 Pan Am games, bringing thousands of visitors to the city. Federal
University of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) was established on September 7, 1920, under the name University of Rio de Janeiro. Reorganized in 1937, when it was renamed the University of Brazil. This has been the current name since 1965. The purpose that justifies the existence of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and for guiding its strategic goals is to provide the Brazilian society the means to dominate, expand, cultivate, implement and disseminate the universal heritage of human knowledge, enabling all its members to act as a transforming force. More specifically, the University is intended to supplement the education of the students, preparing them to: ● Perform in higher-level positions. ● To highlight the multiple forms of knowledge and expression, technical and scientific, artistic and cultural activities. ● Critically reflect on the society they live. ● Participate in the effort to overcome the social and regional inequalities. ● Commit to building a socially just, environmentally responsible, respectful of diversity and free from all forms of oppression or discrimination of class, gender, ethnicity or nationality. ● Struggle for universal citizenship and the consolidation of democracy. ● Contribute to the national and international solidarity. |
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IS 597 Study Abroad, Brazil DePaul University 1 East Jackson Chicago, Illinois 60604
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