New E-Book Showcases Curitiba’s IT Services Ecosystem
February 7th, 2012
Click on the image to read the E-book
It’s been called “Silicon Valley South” and is one of many locations to be nicknamed “the Silicon Valley of Brazil.” Although Curitiba differs from the original Valley in several key ways – less traffic, for instance, and more trees – it does share one essential similarity: a concentration of technology expertise and software development experience.
Curitiba is capital of the state of Paraná, which is home to more than 260 software companies and six software clusters. Those providers embody more than 50 areas of business intelligence and more than 30 areas of IT specialty. Clients of Curitiba include ExxonMobil, HSBC, Nokia, and Wipro. IBM, Dell, and HP were among the first international tech companies to set up operations in Curitiba.
In Brazil, After-Hours E-Communications Could Equal Overtime Pay
February 6th, 2012Source: Herald Tribune
Brazilians tired of answering their boss’s after-hours emails may be able to charge overtime based on a law businesses see hurting competitiveness in Latin America’s largest economy.
Using portable communications devices is equivalent to working in the office, according to legislation signed by President Dilma Rousseff last month.
The law is one more obstacle companies say they face in Brazil, where regulations mandating everything from employer- provided breakfasts to union contributions are a daily drag on efficiency bemoaned for decades as the “Custo Brasil,” or Brazil Cost.
It takes less time to set up a business in Nigeria or Mongolia than it does Brazil, according to the World Bank, which ranked it No. 126 out of 183 countries in its 2012 competitiveness study.
“It’s very worrying,” Emerson Casali, head of labor relations at the National Industry Confederation, said in a phone interview from Brasilia. “If enforced, it could have …
Upstarts Threaten Big Players in Potential LatAm BPO Boom
February 6th, 2012
Santiago: Sustained vertical drive.
By Dan Berthiaume
Latin American nations make up about one-quarter of the 2012 list of Top 100 outsourcing locations compiled by global outsourcing research/advisory firm Tholons, and that is no accident. As Manuel Ravago, president for research at Tholons, explains, Latin America is an up-and-comer in the world of BPO. And more agile smaller countries might make the most of that.
Latin America ‘Weak’ Infrastructure Starts to Get a Major Facelift
February 3rd, 2012
Peru, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Colombia drive forward with big projects
By Clayton Browne
Latin America has long been considered a laggard in terms of global infrastructure development, but that perception should be changing. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Puerto Rico have all begun major long-term infrastructure projects ranging from roads to dams to telecommunications towers to airports. Infrastructure development in the areas of energy, transportation and telecommunications have seen the greatest recent growth, with estimates ranging as high as $450 billion, to be spent on infrastructure in the area between 2011 and 2015.
Brazil vs. India: It’s a Whole Different Ballgame
February 3rd, 2012Benjamin Quadros, CEO of BRQ, on why the desire to do business in Brazil differs from India.
Can Latin American Providers Meet the Demand?
February 2nd, 2012
By Bill Huber, Partner, ISG, and Kristen Elvinger, Research Associate
Concerns exist over the capacity of Latin American service providers to absorb rapid growth. Several global providers currently have a presence in Latin America, and tax and other trade incentives will help attract more outsourcers to the region. And, many Latin American countries are positioned to further develop emerging areas of specialization. Indeed, lessons learned from India, China, and some Eastern European countries suggest that specialization and quality-focused differentiation will be the keys to success, especially for countries with small populations.
Brazil Living Costs Surpass US; Economist Warns of Risks
February 1st, 2012
São Paulo: Making Manhattan look cheap.
By Filipe Pacheco
High costs are one of the prices international companies must pay for doing business in Brazil– especially when it comes to the services industry. Now one of the most plugged-in financial institutions in the world, the International Monetary Fund, has released numbers that demonstrate what many suspected anyway: The cost of living in Brazil in 2011 rose to slightly higher than that of the United States.
Brazil Wrestles with How to Navigate New Era of Immigration
January 31st, 2012Source: CNN
The rise of Brazil as an economic force has brought with it a policy challenge familiar here in the United States: immigration.
Recently crowned the world’s sixth-largest economy, Brazil has become an immigration magnet, both to low-skilled workers –some of whom enter illegally — and high-skilled workers looking for opportunities in the country’s thriving sectors.
Brazil historically has been welcoming to immigrants, but the challenge now is more pronounced as the government seeks to accept foreigners while protecting its hard-won prosperity.
The country faces two simultaneous challenges: how to deal with recent illegal immigration, mostly from Haiti, and how to make it easier for highly educated immigrants to get work permits. A number of Brazilian ministries have either proposed or are deliberating policies as the country ushers in a new era of immigration.
“You cannot become the sixth economy in the world with impunity,” Defense Minister Celso Amorim, a former foreign …
Telefonica’s Wayra and MIT Sign Global Partnership
January 27th, 2012Source: The Next Web
Telefonica‘s startup accelerator Wayra and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) signed a global partnership, the two entities announced. The agreement was signed during the launch of Mexico’s Wayra Academy.
As we reported, Wayra is an initiative promoted by Telefonica Digital to foster entrepreneurship and innovation in the ICT sector. Wayra works as a startup accelerator, selecting ten projects in each country in which it operates, which then receive mentoring and other resources at one of the newly opened Wayra spaces.
Initially launched in seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela), Wayra is now expanding to Europe, starting with the imminent launch of a Wayra Academy in Madrid.
Following Wayra’s agreement with MIT, the two entities will collaborate on a series of initiatives in Latin America. Wayra academies in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina are the first to join the …
Investment Data Reveals State of Interest in Latin America Locations
January 25th, 2012By Reshaad Durgahee
Lima, Peru: Surprisingly emerging.
In the period 2003 through 2010, Europe and Asia were the largest recipient regions of foreign investment projects in shared services and BPO activities, accounting for 46% and 29% respectively. Meanwhile, interest in Latin America has clearly been growing. The number of shared services and BPO foreign investment projects in Latin America rose year on year until 2010, when the total number of projects entering the region decreased by 15%.
