IBM, which is focusing more and more on delivering IT services, is opening a new research facility in Brazil. This new lab is IBM's first in South America and the first IBM Research Lab it has built in the last 12 years. The choice of country shows Brazil's importance to the world economy.
IBM Research is headed to
Rio.
On June 8,
IBM
and the Brazilian government are planning to announce that IBM will build a
new research lab in Brazil.
While the final location of the new facility is still being determined, IBM
staff are already beginning work at campuses in the large Brazilian cities of Rio
de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
This new lab is the first IBM research
facility ever built in South America and the first new IBM
Research Lab the company has built in the last 12 years.
The new facility, which will initially employ about 100 researchers and
scientists, is part of
IBM's
Smarter Planet initiative. Right now, IBM has about 3,000 people working in
eight different labs in five countries.
For now, IBM Research - Brazil
will focus on several different areas of research that include
health
care, transportation and agriculture. In addition, researchers are working
on developing the IT infrastructure needed to bring these technologies into the
everyday lives of Brazilians.
The fact that IBM is investing in Brazil
and its burgeoning IT infrastructure shows the
continuing
importance of Brazil to the world economy, especially when it comes to high
tech.
For years, Brazil
has been lumped in with Russia,
India and China
as BRIC, the four developing economies that will
drive
IT spending in the next several years, if not for decades. For IT vendors
eager to sell products and services outside the United
States and Western Europe,
these
developing
economies are critical to both future success and the bottom line.
"The choice of Brazil
for the newest IBM Research Lab is the
reflection of the big growth opportunity we have seen here," Ricardo
Pelegrini, general manager of IBM Brazil,
said in a statement.
For
25 things you didn't know about IBM, click here.
"IBM believes technology is an
important tool to help the growth of the country and the development of our
society," Pelegrini added. "We are proud [to see] our company-in the
year it will celebrate 93 years in Brazil-investing even more, creating
opportunities and developing new technologies for the benefit of Brazil and of
the world."
As part of its research, IBM plans to
help the Brazil
government use IT to help with large-scale events that will take place in the
next few years. In addition to hosting the World Cup tournament in 2014, Brazil
is also the host country for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
In addition to doing its own research, IBM
is now looking to package its scientific know-how, along with its hardware and
software offerings, as
a
complete IT services package. While this started in 2002,
when
IBM bought PricewaterhouseCoopers' consulting arm, the company has emphasized the concept more
and more through its Global Services division.
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