Nearshore Americas

Brazil Secures Major Partnership with Intel to Power Software R&D and Human Capital

By STAFF REPORT

The Brazilian government has wrapped up a partnership agreement with chip maker Intel Corporation as part of its efforts to promote software development in the country.

The plan call sofr Intel to spend $152 million over the next five years powering Brazil’s research and development (R&D) sector and increasing skilled human capital for the country’s information technology industry.

This is a major breakthrough in Brazil’s IT sector after President Dilma Rousseff unveiled a plan last year to spend $254 million to stimulate software development.

Following the agreement, Intel’s Software and Services Group will hire up to 80 engineers in the country over the next five years, and hopes to support 70,000 local software companies and 400,000 local software developers.

“The joint efforts create exciting opportunities to develop cutting-edge technology that will create breakthrough innovations in energy, transportation, education and software development and explore new growth markets,” said Justin Rattner, Intel’s Chief Technology Officer.

In addition, Intel will add 300 researchers in the country to the company’s global research network.

Earlier, Intel Labs established the Intel Strategic Research Alliance (ISRA) in Brazil, focused on research for pre-silicon hardware validation with UNICAMP. Intel is now broadening the program with other partner universities.

The universities that are going to take part in the program include UNICAMP, USP, UNB, UFMG, PUC-PR, UFPR and UTFPR.

Through its incentive and community programs, Intel aims to leverage the production of locally developed software solutions, particularly in areas such as gaming, mobility, cloud computing and new platforms such as the Ultrabook .

The chipmaker would also collaborate with Brazilian universities for the revamping of curricula for courses in computer science and software development, as well providing academic researchers and laboratories access to high-performance computing (HPC).

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“This agreement marks the beginning of a new phase for Intel Brazil, where we assume a direct role in stimulating innovation for sustainable growth of the country,” said Fernando Martins, president of Intel Brazil. “In the next five years we hope to contribute a great deal through training of professionals through research and development in conjunction with Brazilian universities and national companies.”

Brazil is Intel’s third-largest market and its venture capital arm, Intel Capital, has invested approximately $100 million in more than 25 companies in the area.

Narayan Ammachchi

News Editor for Nearshore Americas, Narayan Ammachchi is a career journalist with a decade of experience in politics and international business. He works out of his base in the Indian Silicon City of Bangalore.

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