Symantec Names Brazil as Eighth-largest Global Source of Malicious Botnet Activity

Symantec's new study highlights the fact that cybercriminals are becoming increasingly more organized and trying hard to stay one-step ahead of security agencies.

By Narayan Ammachchi, nearshore americas

Security software provider Symantec has found that Brazil is the eighth-largest global source of malicious botnet activity, according to the firm’s Internet Security Threat Report 2015.

The country is home to 2% of the world’s bots, which are defined as private computers infected with malicious software and controlled as a group without the owners’ knowledge.

Globally, China was the origin of much more bot activity in 2015, seeing a sharp rise of 84% in bot-related activity over the previous year. In contrast, bot activity in the US has dropped 67% since 2014.

Although cybercrime is also a problem in Mexico, Uruguay, Puerto Rico and Panama, the report shows that the threat rate is declining in several countries. Successful law enforcement activity against cybercriminals and heightened cybersecurity awareness are both contributing factors to the decline of bots.

However, a similar study by BitSight Technologies stated that Brazil and the US are finding it difficult to prevent and mitigate machine compromises stemming from botnet infections. BitSight also said it found Brazilian companies underperforming on metrics such as machine compromise rates, email security and file-sharing practices.

Nearly 430 million new malware variants were discovered in 2015, up 36% from the previous year, suggesting that cybercriminals around the world are becoming increasingly more organized and trying hard to stay one step ahead of security agencies.

“Advanced criminal attack groups now echo the skill sets of nation-state attackers. They have extensive resources and a highly-skilled technical staff that operate with such efficiency that they maintain normal business hours and even take the weekends and holidays off,” said Kevin Haley, Director, Symantec Security Response.

Brazilian IT market grows 9.2 percent in 2015

Enterprise investment in technology in the country is above world average despite the recession, says IDC

By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

Despite the political and economic challenges Brazil has faced over the last 12 months organizations continued to invest in technology as the local industry saw growth above global average in 2015, according to a report from analyst IDC in partnership with the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES).

The Brazilian IT industry grew by 9.2 percent last year - this compares to global average growth of 5.6 percent. This positions Brazil as the largest IT market in Latin America and sixth globally, with total investments of $59,9bn last year, according to the report.

According to the report, the most expressive growth was seen in the software segment, up 30.2 percent generating $12,4bn, while services firms saw 8.2 percent growth in relation to 2014 with total investments of $14,3bn and the local hardware market saw 6.3 percent growth, generating $33,4bn.

"The share of hardware investments is still close to 56 percent of the total, but the share of software and services is growing year by year and should exceed the 50 percent in total, as Brazil increases its level of maturity in those segments," said ABES president Jorge Sukarie.

Investment increases outside Rio-São Paulo area

IT investment has also become less focused in the regions near to the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and started to increase in the north and northeast areas of the country, according to ABES.

Both regions accounted for 15 percent of all purchases of hardware, software and services in the country in 2015, according to the report. Despite the fact that this represents growth of only one percent in relation to 2014, the trend is positive, considering the slowdown caused by the recession and the continuous increases in IT spend in the regions in the last few years.

Between 2013 and 2014, for example, spending in IT hardware, software and services went from 10.5 percent to 14 percent of the total spend in Brazil, the report adds.

Individually, the advance seen in the individual regions within that period was also noteworthy: the North of Brazil, which includes large states such as Amazonas and Pará, saw IT almost doubling from 2.2 percent to 4.24 percent, while the Northeast, where states such as Bahia are located, jumped from 8,3 percent to 10.72 percent.

Latin Americans commerce report - They Love Shopping Online

Online shopping is growing by Latin America, with a new Business Insider report projecting annual growth of 17% in the the region through 2019.The region's top markets, biggest growth opportunities, and foreign retailers making inroads
By Cooper Smith, business insider 

Despite the economic downturn, Latin America is a market retailers have to pay attention to. It's one of the top regions in the world for e-commerce growth, and those retailers that build out their e-commerce operations now will be in the best position to grab market share when the economy rebounds.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we size Latin America's biggest e-commerce markets — Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina — and project how online retail sales will rise in these countries. We look at the growth drivers in each market and identify opportunities and challenges for foreign retailers operating there.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Latin America is one of the fastest-growing regions for e-commerce, behind Asia-Pacific. We expect online retail sales to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% between 2014 and 2019 to reach $85 billion in sales at the end of the forecast period.
• Brazil is the largest online retail market in Latin America, accounting for 42% of the region's $47.4 billion in e-commerce sales. But e-commerce growth is decelerating due to an economic downturn. Between 2014 and 2019, we expect e-commerce sales to rise at a CAGR of 12.5%.
• Mexico is the second-largest market for e-commerce in Latin America. Mexico currently accounts for 12.3% of the region's e-commerce, but we expect Mexico's share to increase to 15.6% by 2019. By 2018, Mexico is forecast to reach $11 billion in e-commerce sales — or just under 2.5% of total retail sales in the country. 
• Argentina ranks third in terms of online retail sales in Latin America, but it will be the fastest-growing e-commerce market of the three countries. The country currently accounts for 8.9% of sales in the region, but by 2019, we expect its market share to increase to 14.6%. 
• US retailers are investing heavily in building out their e-commerce businesses in the region, despite the slowing economy. Walmart recently redesigned its country-specific site in Brazil and is finalizing construction of three new e-commerce fulfillment centers in the country — doubling its current fulfillment network. Amazon has been investing heavily in Mexico, launching a Spanish-speaking version of its shopping site under the Mexican domain 

Brazil seeks projects for its best supercomputer

Projects are now being selected for execution in Brazil's most powerful computing resource.
By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

Brazil's National Laboratory of Scientific Computing is currently selecting research projects for application within the Santos Dumont supercomputing resource - the 148th best in the world and the most powerful in South America - in the field of processing demand.

Since there are three separate resources within the complex within different application purposes, interested parties with a representation in Brazil can submit proposals for research use of the computational capacity in a large scale, as well as smaller research projects.Santos Dumont is a cluster composed of three systems, Santos Dumont CPU, Santos Dumont GPU and Santos Dumont Hybrid. Out of its total processing capacity of 1,1 petaflops, Santos Dumont GPU alone can execute 456 teraflops/calculations per second.

Currently, Santos Dumont is accessed via the SINAPAD platform, which allows selected organizations to use the supercomputer for research matters that demand a large scale computing resource.

With six supercomputers in total, Brazil is the tenth country with most resources of that kind globally according to the twice-yearly Top500 list of the world's most powerful super machines.

Brazil ranks tenth on world's supercomputer list

Country ranks high in terms of quantity of supercomputers but fails to make it to the list of the ten 100 best machines, report says
By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

Brazil is the tenth country with most supercomputers in the world, according to a reputable list of the world's most powerful machines published earlier this week.

Six supercomputers are located in Brazil, which places the country at number ten in the twice-yearly Top500 list of the world's most powerful super machines.

Out of all the Brazilian supercomputers, three are run by the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC) in the Rio de Janeiro town of Petrópolis and one is managed by the Brazilian Institute of Space Research (Inpe). In addition, one supercomputer is run by oil giant Petrobrás and another by the Center for Integrated Manufacturing and Technology, in the northeastern capital of Salvador, in the state of Bahia.

The power of supercomputers is directly related to a country's technology-related progress. The machines are designed to perform complex simulations and applications to help scientific research in a vast range of industries, from weather forecasting to financial modeling and DNA sequencing.

The best Brazilian supercomputer, currently ranked 476th and run by LNCC, is Santos Dumont GPU. The supercomputer is part of a cluster composed of three systems, Santos Dumont CPU, Santos Dumont GPU and Santos Dumont Hybrid. With a total processing capacity of 1,1 petaflops (Santos Dumont GPU alone can execute 456 teraflops/calculations per second), the cluster is currently the most powerful supercomputer resource in Latin America.Despite making it to the top 10 list in terms of quantity of such equipment, none of the Brazilian machines has made it to the top 100 best supercomputers.

Why Indian IT Companies Have Set Their Sights on Brazil

Indian IT companies have their eyes on Brazil -- and it is not just exports to North America that have attracted interest. The domestic market, in both software and IT services, has also caught their attention. Here's why Indian companies are looking to Brazil for growth.

By Silvia Rosa for Near shore Americas  

Among the largest exporters of software and IT services, Indian companies have increased their investments in Brazil, aiming to benefit from the growth potential of the domestic market and expansion of their operations in Latin America. The largest Indian IT companies, such as Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, and HCL have recently started operations in Brazil to both serve the local market and provide services for global clients.

This is the case for Infosys, the second largest Indian IT company, which opened a development center in Brazil in Nova Lima, in the state of Minas Gerais, in 2009. “Initially the aim was to provide services for some multinational customers based in Brazil,” said Claudio Elsas, Infosys’ CEO in Brazil.

In 2012, Infosys acquired Lodestone, which specialized in the SAP system. Currently the company offers several lines of IT services in Brazil, including management consulting focused on SAP and Oracle’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, development of IT solutions and business process outsourcing (BPO).

The company has about 1,000 employees in Brazil in addition to maintaining local operations in Mexico, Argentina, and Costa Rica. “The advantage of being a global company is that we can bring the latest IT solutions to the local market faster,” said Elsas.

TCS is the largest IT Indian company, and Brazil accounted for 20% of its turnover in Latin America in 2013. The company’s goal is to raise its revenues in the region to US$1 billion by 2016, reaching 4% of global turnover.

In Brazil, TCS has a development center in Tambore in the state of São Paulo, and it has focused on services related to mobile Internet, cloud computing, big data, and high-performance computing. The local presence is essential for growing in Brazil. “Besides the language barrier, there is the high cost of importing services in Brazil,” said Elsas.

The main factor that has attracted these multinationals to Brazil is the size of the nation’s IT market. As the seventh largest in the world, it reached US$60 billion in 2014, an increase of 6.7% over the prior year, and with an investment growth of 4.04% last year, it was above the global average. “The main factor that has attracted multinationals to Brazil is the growth potential of the domestic IT market,” said Jorge Sukarie, CEO of theBrazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES). “The country is among the 10 fastest-growing IT markets and may overtake France over the next five years.”

France placed fifth in the investment ranking in 2014, and the Brazilian domestic market is already larger than that of India (eighth), whose investments in the IT sector totaled US$40 billion in 2014. Brazil also dominates its region, representing 46% of the IT market in Latin America. Considering just software and services, growth was 9.7% in 2014, totaling US$25.2 billion — double the Indian market and its $12 billion.

Another advantage of the Brazilian market is that it is located in the same time zone as North America, which makes working on projects involving a global team easier.

However, since most parts of the Indian IT market are focused on export, the international market in Brazil accounts for only 1.93% of the IT sector.

Foreign companies have a large market share in the software segment in Brazil. In 2014, the programs developed abroad accounted for 75.5% of this sector. On the other hand, domestic developments represent 85.9% of the service market.

In order to grow in the Brazilian IT service market, Tech Mahindra has chosen to make some strategic acquisitions. The company, which is part of the one of largest global IT services providers, the Mahindra Group, acquired a 51% stake in the Brazilian SAP consulting company, IT Complex, in 2013 and it is considering new acquisitions or joint ventures with local partners in order to increase its service portfolio in Brazil, especially in cloud computing and BPO.

In February, the company signed an agreement with IBM to develop a cloud application platform. Tech Mahindra also signed a partnership with Equinix at the beginning of the year to use its data center platforms, aiming to expand its business in Brazil and in the Latin American region in the outsourcing and cloud computer segments, providing services such as network operational center (NOC), host operational center (HOC), and security operational center (SOC), as well as support to critical applications and infrastructure services.

Having maintained local operations in Brazil for around five years, Tech Mahindra offers IT services in consulting, enterprise business solutions, BPO and IT infrastructure. Besides this, the group has two companies, Comviva and Canvas, that offer mobile solutions.

In an interview with Nearshore Americas in February, Alberto Tosatti, CEO of Tech Mahindra at that time, said that the company showed a 30% increase in turnover in 2014, and the forecast for this year is to grow 25% in dollar terms in Brazil.

The Brazilian subsidiary accounts for 2% of total revenue and the goal for Latin America is to achieve 10% of revenues by 2018, with Brazil representing half of that.

Some Indian companies also use the infrastructure in Brazil to export IT services to other countries or work on global projects. Currently about 20% of Tech Mahindra revenues in Brazil come from services to countries such as the United States, Canada, and Europe.

The Indian giant of IT services and outsourcing, Wipro, also has a global delivery center in Curitiba, in the state of Parana, which is integrated with the company’s mega centers in India and provides a wide range of IT services for both local and global customers, such as development and maintenance applications (Oracle and SAP), IT infrastructure management, big data and analytics, cloud computing, and outsourcing.

The company began its operations in Brazil in 2007 with the acquisition of the retail consulting firm, Enable, from the Portuguese group, Sonae.

Despite the devaluation of the Brazilian real, the high cost of doing business in Brazil makes the Brazilian exports less competitive in comparison with other emerging markets like India.

Sukarie explained that the bureaucracy, the tax burden, and the high labor costs are among the main obstacles to operate in the domestic market. In addition, companies have difficulty in finding qualified workforce and staff fluent in other languages, especially English.

Some companies, like Infosys, have sent Brazilian employees to be trained in India or have brought Indian technicians to train the local staff.

Server market shrinks in Brazil

Revenues drop by 17 percent in the second quarter of 2015.

By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech  

The server market in Brazil has seen a 17 percent drop in revenue in the second quarter of 2015, according to a report by analyst house IDC.

According to the report, the months between April and June saw very few purchasing deals, a consequence of the current instability in the local economy.

"The market performance was impacted by economic and political issues that the country has been facing since the end of last year," says IDC analyst Luis Altamirano.

"These factors, combined with the dollar hike, caused investments to decrease given all the uncertainty in the Brazilian business scenario," he added.

Despite the drop in revenues, the local market saw growth of 2 percent in server sales during the second quarter. By comparison, the first quarter saw a drop of 12 percent in revenue and 5 percent in sales volumes.

The predictions for the rest of the year are more upbeat - and the main reason for it is the various government tenders for acquisition of datacenter equipment that have been launched recently.

Based on those upcoming purchases, IDC forecasts an overall 22 percent drop in server revenues and a 7 percent decrease in sales volumes for 2015.

Brazilian government to invest $4bn in broadband expansion

Projects focused on the development of high-speed Internet access across the country must be completed by December 2016.

By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech  

The Brazilian government has committed to invest R$15bn ($3.97bn) in the creation and improvement of broadband projects.

The resources will be distributed as tax relief across the 1167 projects submitted by companies as part of a tendering process coordinated by the Ministry of Communications as part of the Special Taxation Regime of the National Broadband Program, a scheme created to stimulate the deployment and expansion of the Brazilian broadband network.

Some 3.699 Brazilian cities will benefit from the projects, but the state of São Paulo attracted R$4.6bn ($1.2bn) of the investment total, followed by the two other states located in the wealthy southeast region of Brazil: Minas Gerais, with R$1.8bn ($477,000) of investments and Rio de Janeiro, with R$965.000 ($256.025).

In terms of specific project areas, about 80 percent of investments will go towards access networks, which connect users to their immediate service provider. The remainder will mostly fund projects related to the equipment and fibers handling the physical transport of signals, commonly referred to as transport networks.

The broadband infrastructure projects approved by the Ministry of Communications have a completion deadline of December 2016.

Ongoing efforts

Earlier this year, the Brazilian government had promised a revamped national broadband plan, with more government investment and the creation of "synergies" between the public and private sectorto deliver improved Internet access services across the country.

Despite the recession Brazil is currently experiencing, large communications projects such as the development of the country's broadband infrastructure and the construction of the country's own satellite have been spared from the budget cuts that have been announced over recent months.

Research suggests that not even half of all Brazilian households have access to broadband, the main obstacle being the cost of high-speed Internet access services.

But providing cheaper and faster broadband services is a priority for Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, who set that goal as part of her campaign pledges, adding that broadening the fiber optic infrastructure of the country was a cornerstone of that plan.

Earlier this year, the Communications minister Maximiliano Martinhão disclosed government plans to roll out fiber optic technology across at least 90 percent of the country. Meanwhile,Google is backing the construction of a massive submarine fiber optic cable linking Brazil to the United States, while another cable will link Brazil to Africa and a third undersea link will connect the country with Europe.

Brazil tops cyberattack ranking in LatAm

The country has seen more than 27 million attacks this year so far, says research
By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

Internet users in Brazil are the most targeted by cybercriminals in Latin America, according to a recent study.
Data released by Kaspersky Lab suggests that the number of cyberattacks in the country is way higher than in other nations in the region, based on the 400 million such incidents that it recorded in 2015 so far.

The company has recorded 27.642.589 hacking attempts in Brazil this year, so 31 percent of all local Internet users, while countries such as Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela hovered around 21 percent.

Brazil also happens to be the country with the highest Internet penetration in Latin America.

According to William Beer, managing director of cybersecurity at management consultancy Alvarez & Marsal, Brazilian organizations have a lot of work to do when it comes to protecting information online.

"There is a lack of focus on cybersecurity both in the public and private sector. Senior executives at organizations don't really see that as a priority," Beer tells ZDNet.

The economic crisis Brazil is currently experiencing is an additional area of concern, according to Beer. The security expert recalls that when the downturn hit the UK in 2008, the first area that suffered cuts was security.

"That is because security wasn't considered something that would provide immediate returns. However, those organizations suffered to rebuild their security teams and strategy later on," he says.

Report: LATAM Digital Economy Created US$195 Billion In Revenue In 8 Years

More than half of Latin Americans are involved with the digital economy.

By Narayan Ammachchi for Near shore Americas

  

The digital economy in Latin America created 900,000 jobs and US$195 billion in revenue in the space of eight years between 2005 and 2013, finds a study sponsored by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The revenue it generated is equivalent to 4.3% of cumulative GDP growth in the region, the reported released in the Futurecom conference in Brazil stated.

This significant growth in revenue and adoption has given rise to a call for setting up a digital ecosystem that provides greater space for Latin Americans to excel.

Although more than half of Latin Americans are involved in the digital economy in some way or the other, most of the applications they are using are not created in the region. Of the 100 most-visited websites in the region, only 26 are local. As a result, 63% of the traffic flow is international, going mainly toward the US.

Therefore, the study advocates the creation of a single Latin American digital market that capitalizes on some of the region’s unique advantages. For example, most of the countries in the region, except for Brazil, speak Spanish.

The digital economy in the region is mainly inclusive of telecoms and internet-based services. The report however admits that decline in the price of services and equipments lured a lot of players into digital economy, resulting in a sharp rise in number of Internet users.

The report also calls for creating a productive model based on entrepreneurship and innovation, capable of developing a local industry content, powerful applications and services, creating more jobs and opportunities for the society.

The ECLAC has often argued that digital economy is a crucial force for boosting structural change, making progress to reduce inequality and strengthening the social inclusion.

The research was headed by Argentine researcher Raúl Katz, professor at the Columbia University, and funded, among others, by Telefonica. The survey also presents recommendations based on workshops held in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, Brazil alone will account for about 2.6% of the global digital growth by 2016. It is believed that more than 85 million people connected to the World Wide Web in Brazil.

IBM Brazil places bets on Watson

Big Blue appoints executive to widen the footprint of its cognitive computing platform among Brazilian organizations
By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

IBM Brazil is investing on expanding the presence of its cognitive computing platform Watson in Brazil with the appointment of an executive to develop the business area.

The Big Blue's former business development head for SaaS and independent software vendors (ISVs) David Dias is now leading the channel and ecosystem operation for Watson in Brazil.

As well as generating new Watson deals in Brazil, Dias has the goal of creating and developing an ecosystem of ISVs, start-ups and businesses partners for Watson and bringing the technology closer to developers and research and development organizations in the country.

Watson is possibly the best-known example of artificial intelligence in use today. The platform is designed so that business users can literally ask questions -- from medical diagnoses and the likely outcome of business decisions to answers to legal questions -- on the spot.

IBM has a large R&D facility in São Paulo which has been involved in the development of Watson's technology and in the analysis of data in Brazilian Portuguese - something that the company had intended only once interest in Watson turned into actual deals.

Since it started to pitch Watson to Brazilian customers last year, IBM signed a deal with Bradesco, one of the largest banks in the country, which will be used in its call centers to improve internal communication and speed up customer service.

Brazil’s Start-Ups Attracting Investments from U.S. Investors

500 Startups, Qualcomm Ventures, Redpoint eVentures and Techstars Invest in Startups from the Brazilian Accelerator Program, Start-Up Brasil
By Business Wire

The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) today announced nine start-up finalists that will present at its second annual International Demo Day in San Francisco. InternationalStart-Up Brasil, an initiative from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), managed by the Brazilian Association for the Promotion of Brazilian Software Excellence (Softex). Two startups from InovAtiva, a program from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade were also invited to present.

Demo Day is a program from

Check out Brazil's hottest new start-ups showcasing in San Francisco: http://bit.ly/Start-UpBrasilDemoDay

Graduates of Start-Up Brasil Program have gone on to successfully raise money from U.S. investors including 500 Startups, Qualcomm Ventures, Redpoint eVentures, and Techstars.

The nine Brazilian startups will be presenting their businesses to a panel of U.S. investors on December 10th at the second annual International Demo Day.

“We can estimate U.S. investors committed around USD $12 Billion to the Brazilian Private Equity / Venture Capital Industry in 2014 alone,” said David Barioni Neto, President of Apex-Brasil. “It’s safe to say that Silicon Valley VCs have discovered Brazil’s vibrant start-up scene. We capture 53% of all the Latin America venture capital deals. That´s why our agency has an office in Silicon Valley and many initiatives to present great investment opportunities to U.S. businessmen. The Demo Day is one of them.”

Here’s How Brazil Is Giving Every Citizen Free Mobile Data

The government, along with Qualcomm and one of the nation’s biggest banks, has a plan to get the poor online.

By Ian King & Christiana Sciaudone, BloombergBusiness

Once considered the next great growth engine for the smartphone industry, Brazil is on the decline. With its economy shrinking and unemployment on the rise, many Brazilians are making do with dumb phones. They find the cost of an Internet-connected device prohibitive, particularly when they factor in mobile data fees.

One possible solution borrows from a technical breakthrough made by AT&T half a century ago. The Brazilian government is working with local companies and Qualcomm, the world’s largest mobile phone chipmaker, on a modern version of toll-free calling. A new 1-800 system for mobile data

allows Brazilians to access their bank accounts for free on smartphones without incurring data costs. The government of São Paulo plans to extend free data services to some official websites by the end of the year.

Banco Bradesco, one of the country’s biggest banks, began exploring a free data program after observing that many customers had stopped using the company’s app and were switching back to such traditional banking services as phone calls and visits to the teller. A survey of those customers found that they couldn’t afford data plans and didn’t have access to Wi-Fi during work hours, when banks are open. Bradesco teamed up with technology giant Qualcomm, and together they spent a year negotiating with Brazil’s four main phone-service providers. The bank purchased data packages wholesale and started rolling out the program in 2014. Bradesco customers can check account balances, transfer money, and pay bills without buying a data plan. “The response was excellent,” says Mauricio Minas, a vice president at the bank.

Bradesco has signed up almost 7 million of its 26 million checking account customers to the company’s mobile services, Minas says; it had 4 million at the end of 2014. The number of mobile transactions in the first half of 2015 doubled, compared with the same period last year, and the bank expects volumes to keep doubling each year. About 35 percent of all transactions will be initiated on phones by the end of 2015, and that number should rise to 40 percent next year, Minas estimates.

Sponsored data has been tested in other emerging markets, with some success. Internet.org, a pet project of Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, provides free access to a limited group of websites—Facebook being one—in Colombia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. Two of China’s largest mobile operators began offering one-day free access to Alibaba’s Taobao Marketplace in 2013 to get people hooked on the shopping site and to encourage data use.

Bradesco’s service in Brazil isn’t a philanthropic endeavor. Besides creating an incentive to attract new customers, it’s cheaper than hiring additional bank and call center staff. Each visit to a teller costs the bank more than $4, whereas an online transaction costs pennies, according to a study commissioned by Qualcomm. “This solution easily pays for itself,” says Minas.

Qualcomm, which sponsored a report about the program in Brazil that is expected to be published on Aug. 18, is developing similar free-data software that the government will roll out to citizens. Qualcomm is banking on emerging markets to drive future demand for smartphones, most of which rely on the company’s chips. While Brazil, at 282 million mobile subscribers, has more phone lines than people, some 75 percent are on prepaid plans with little to no data. Smartphone sales growth in the country dropped 15 percent last quarter after a 56 percent jump during the same period in 2014, according to market research firm IDC.

Qualcomm is encouraged by the results of its program. “If you apply the same concept that you have with 1-800 calls to data, you can revolutionize the industry,” says Christiano Amon, co-head of Qualcomm’s chip unit. “I believe it has the potential to get adopted in many, many places.”

One place Qualcomm isn’t expected to go after is the U.S. While Amazon.com successfully

introduced a similar, albeit limited, program with free access to its e-bookstore on Kindles in 2007, Americans have resisted the concept of corporate-sponsored Web access. Proponents of net neutrality set their sights on Internet.org in May, saying it’s a vehicle to lock people into Facebook. Past proposals for sponsored data in the U.S. have “caused a bit of an uproar,” says Courtney Munroe, an analyst at IDC. While such services may not work in developed markets, “it makes a lot of sense where data is still relatively expensive,” he says.

Brazilians happy to avoid standing in line at the bank may soon get relief from a second common inconvenience: getting a driver’s license. The state government in São Paulo is developing an app called Poupatempo, meaning “save time,” that aims to speed up the process of applying for a license or identity card. Sao Paulo will spend at least 30 million reais ($9 million) a year to build out the service, and it wants to make sure people are using it. “Most don't access the service online because of the cost associated with data,” says Aldo Garda, an information technology coordinator for the state government.

São Paulo is talking to the four biggest telecoms in Brazil about buying data on behalf of residents. The government hopes to save itself some money by converting people from more expensive call centers to online services, Garda says. He expects a 50 percent reduction in visits to government offices within two years, if the app is successful. Given the recent economic troubles throughout the country and cuts on government spending that impend, Brazil could use any savings it can get.

Four Things You Need to Know Before Laying Off Employees in LatAm

Getting to grips with the legal requirements in terms of layoffs can be tricky, even more so in a foreign country. Nearshore Americas unpacks four things you need to know before laying off employees or contractors in Latin America.
Bianca Wright, Nearshore Americas


Terminating employment is never something to be taken lightly, but doing so in a country other than the US can bring its own unique headaches. As Danielle Urban, a partner in the Denver office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, noted: “The US model of employment-at-will is uncommon in the rest of the world.” Urban specializes in foreign HR and employment law issues.

So what’s the deal in Latin America? Labor law across the region differs considerably, but there are some similarities across borders. Responses to layoffs differ widely as well, although there is always negative publicity. IBM Argentina’s 2012 layoffs resulted in threats of union action, a cry repeated in 2014 when Alliance@IBM compiled reports of more than 3,300 layoffs in IBM offices abroad, including 1,500 reportedly let go in Brazil and 600 in Argentina. In contrast a US printing company that closed a plant and laid off workers in Argentina in 2014 was accused of terrorism by the government. Caution is key in ensuring that layoffs are done in the best possible way.

Brazil IT sector continues to create jobs

The number of positions has gone up by 44,2 percent despite recession, says research
By Angelica Mari for Brazil Tech

The Brazilian technology sector continues to create jobs despite the country's current economic slowdown, according to a recent study.

Over the first half of 2015, the number of IT jobs on offer in Brazil has gone up by 44,2 percent, according to numbers from human resources consultancy Catho.

In June alone, 10.105 positions were created - that's 3.640 more jobs than the same month last year.

Out of the top destinations for IT job seekers in Brazil, São Paulo concentrates 32 percent of all the tech positions offered in the country, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 9,77 percent and Porto Alegre, the home of major companies such as SAP, with 6,23 percent of all jobs.

Other key centers with opportunities for technology professionals include Curitiba - where most technology workers of banking multinationals such as HSBC are located - with 4,78 percent of all IT jobs in Brazil.

Another top destination is Belo Horizonte, which concentrates 3,66 percent of all IT positions in the country.

According to data from Brazilian IT association Brasscom, the local market currently employs 1.3 million IT professionals and that number will see a 30 percent increase by 2016.

Brazilian e-commerce to reach $19.7bn in 2015

There will be an increase in online sales of 17,3 percent on last year's numbers, says research
By Angelica Mari, Brazil Tech

E-commerce in Brazil will generate $19.7bn in 2015 - a 17,3 percent increase on last year's figures, according to research from consulting firm eMarketer.

Within Latin America, Brazil is the best performing market, followed by Mexico with predicted sales of $5.7bn and Argentina, where the forecast is $4.96bn, according to the research.

E-commerce revenues in Latin America should reach $38.2bn in 2015 - a 23,9 percent increase on 2014 numbers.

According to the consultancy, the forecast is that the region will generate $84.7bn in online sales by 2019.

Separate research by AT Kearney suggests that Brazil is currently the ninth largest market in the world in terms of online sales, with 106 million Internet users and 60 million online consumers.

However, the AT Kearney report also points out that between 2014 and 2015 Brazil has performed poorly in the global e-commerce market: due to the current economic slowdown, the country went from 7th to 21st place in the analyst's ranking of 30 countries, based on aspects such as online commerce attractiveness and growth potential.

São Paulo is the best tech startup ecosystem in LatAm

São Paulo is the best place in Latin America for budding tech entrepreneurs, according to a study.Availability of capital, startup performance and market reach are the city's strongest points
By Angelica Mari , Brazil Tech

The study Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2015 ranks the largest urban center in Brazil as the 12th most attractive city to start a technology-based business.

According to the research, carried out by software development firm Compass, the city has gone up one position in relation to the previous study, published in 2012.

The criteria used in the study includes ability to expand internationally and local talent, as well as availability of capital, startup performance and market reach - the last three points being the strongest in São Paulo.

São Paulo was the only Latin American city to appear among the top 20 locations cited in the ranking. According to the study, the best locations to start a tech business are the Silicon Valley, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and Tel Aviv.

The Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking is based on interviews with more than 200 entrepreneurs and industry players in 25 countries, as well as a five-year survey of more than 11,000 startups and investors worldwide.

New Brazilian Rules on Outsourcing to Benefit Call Center Companies

Draft laws on outsourcing in Brazil could benefit contact center companies by addressing legal uncertainty and clarifying the requirements involved in such outsourcing deals.

By Silvia Rosa. Nearshore america 

Brazilian call center companies are excited about the draft bill that regulates outsourcing services in the country. Bill 4330 was approved by the Brazilian House of Representatives and sent to the Senate to be voted on. The market expectation is that the new regulations will reduce the legal uncertainty in Brazil and they should increase the demand for contact center services, with companies seeking to

outsource their activities in order to reduce costs in the face of the current slowing of the Brazilian economy.

The call center sector employs about 1.5 million workers, providing customer services for large companies. In 2014, the outsourcing of such services generated US$14.94 billion and for this year, the forecast is for 3.73% growth. However, the lack of specific regulation on outsourcing has increased legal uncertainty in this sector. “The draft bill provides greater legal certainty by allowing the outsourcing of all kinds of activity,” said lawyer Gabriela Coutinho Frassinelli, a specialist in digital law at Opice Blum Associated Attorneys.

The proposed law should help to reduce the number of lawsuits. According to Frassinelli, there are 10,000 legal proceedings involving call center outsourcing and 16,000 legal actions related to outsourcing in general. “If the draft bill, which has been approved by the House of Representatives, passes through Senate it should bring efficiency gains to companies and allow them to plan their processes better,” said José Americo, director of the Brazilian Association of Telecommunications (Telebrasil).

Many contact center companies have faced several lawsuits filed by their employees, who claim that they had to be hired directly by contracting companies rather than the intermediary employer.

In addition, some telecom companies and banks have been fined due to some judges understanding that the outsourcing of the contact center in these sectors is not permitted, because this service is related to the core business of such companies.

However, there is not a clear definition of what is considered a core activity. The precedent “súmula” 331 of the Superior Labor Court (TRT) stipulates that the outsourcing of the services related to the core activities of the contracting company is not permitted. In the cases of activities such as security services, maintenance, cleaning or other services that are not related to the core business of the contracting company, outsourcing is allowed.

Nevertheless, the General Telecommunications Law (Law 9,472 / 1997) provides for the outsourcing of inherent, accessory or complementary services by telecom companies. “We understand that the telecommunications companies were allowed to outsource call centers. This is an issue that is not fully clear and, therefore, it is possible to contest such judgments,” said Americo.

In September 2014, the Minister of the Supreme Court, Teori Zavascki, suspended all legal proceedings in the Labor Court with regard to the legality of call center outsourcing by telecom companies. “Those processes are awaiting judgment by the Court and should remain unchanged until the Supreme Court has a clear understanding about this issue,” said Frassinelli.

Companies that outsource their services have to oversee the tax payments by the contracted companies. “I recommend that companies oversee the payments of employees and tax collection every month, as well as requesting that outsourced companies send their payment receipts,” said Frassinelli.

Furthermore, they continue to have secondary liability, i.e, if the contractor is prosecuted and if it is proved that it is not able to comply with its obligations, the contracting company may be liable.

Frassinelli said that companies that outsource their services should also be aware of situations that can be characterized as a direct employment relationship. “For example, if a certain employee from a contracted company is requested to work within the other company and he has to meet the targets set by the contracting company, this situation can be characterized as a direct employment relationship.”

Legal uncertainty is a factor that has hampered corporate transactions in this sector and has made investment in this segment less attractive for foreign companies.

This situation happened to AeC. The company, one of the largest Brazilian contact center providers, had problems with the negotiation involving a merger with British Serco in 2013, which did not go ahead due to the legal uncertainties regarding outsourcing activity in Brazil.

Headquartered in Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais, AeC has about 35,000 employees and expects to reach a revenue of one billion Brazilian real (approximately US$319 billion) this year. “The approval of the outsourcing law should attract foreign companies that are interested in investing in the call center sector in Brazil,” said Watson Pacheco, lawyer specialist in labor and teleservices industry at Terçariol, Yamazaki, Calazans e Vieira Dias Attorneys.

In addition, Brazilian call center companies may specialize in providing specific customer services to clients from different sectors, said Pacheco. After the law on outsourcing comes into force, companies will have 120 days to comply with the new regulations.

Brazilian government wants fiber in 90 percent of the country

The Brazilian government wants to roll out fiber optic technology across 90 percent of the country's cities. Current fiber optic coverage is concentrated in 4 percent of Brazilian cities.

By Angelica Mari,Brazil Tech

Without specifying how long the project might take to complete, telecommunications secretary at the Ministry of Communications Maximiliano Martinhão told delegates at an event promoted by the Brazilian Senate that the ambition is part of the National Broadband Plan.

About 80 percent of fiber provision is concentrated in 4 percent of Brazilian cities, the secretary said, adding that the fiber roll out should initially focus on expanding the existing networks.


"Doubling the average [Internet] speed could add 0.3 percentage points to the GDP. Increasing the average speed by five-fold can increase the average monthly household income up to 5.7 percent," Martinhão said.


Internet speed in Brazil lags behind rest of the world: the country's average connection speed goes up, but other South American such as Chile and Uruguay neighbors fared better.

As well as the government intentions to expand the fiber network across the country, other major projects are underway to improve the Internet connectivity in the country: a Brazil-Angola submarine fiber optic cable will be ready in 2017 while a Google-sponsored undersea link will connect Brazil to the US and is due to commence operations in 2016.

Inside the Most Complex Places to Do Business in Latin America

The TMF Global Complexity Index 2014 placed five Latin American countries in the top 10 most complex places to do business rankings, with Argentina and Brazil placing first and second as the most complex in the world.
By Bianca Wright,Nearshore america  

Argentina and Brazil were followed by Bolivia (3), Mexico (6) and Paraguay (8). Fully half of the top ten list of complex places to do business is in Latin America.

Despite this, though, a robust and thriving ITO/ BPO landscape serving North America and other places in the world has evolved in the region, which begs the question: are these countries really so difficult to do business in?

As the TMF report notes the global business environment has become more complex in a number of ways, especially in terms of “an increase in the compliance requirements shouldered by organizations, including FATCA compliance, anti-bribery and corruption, BEPS and changes in international company law.” Within this context, North American firms looking to benefit from nearshore advantages have to tackle a nest of legal, compliance and business requirements that can make setting up shop elsewhere particularly daunting.

Sara Haq, Founder and Principal of SH International, who has worked across Latin America, explained that many of the factors assessed in studies such as the TMF one relate to the ability for foreigners to do business in the country.


“For instance, whether record keeping is not in English is considered, as is whether local residence is required for directors. Many other factors simply create higher barriers to entry, as well as higher barriers to exit, leading many international companies to prefer to do business elsewhere where they can be more agile in moving around resources between countries as needed,” she said, adding that these factors include the length of registration process as well as the process for the dissolution of a private company.

Haq noted that many countries in South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru have had less modernization of institutions by the government to open up towards foreign investment.