Incentivo é a chave para crescimento do mercado nacional de software

*Jorge Sukarie

The software and services market in Brazil exceeded the expectations of professionals in the sector in 2012, reaching the figure of US$ 27.1 billion. This is a jump of 26.7% compared to the performance recorded in the previous year. The data are from a recent study carried out by the IDC (International Data Corporation) in partnership with the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES).

The national IT market, which encompasses software, services and hardware, recorded a growth of 41.6% and ranked 7th in the international ranking, ahead of countries such as Canada, Australia and India. Today, the Brazilian sector already corresponds to 49.1% of what moves all of Latin America, with US$ 60.2 billion. In addition, the industry forecasts for this year are quite encouraging. Influenced by investments in the areas of sporting events in the coming years and with the exploration of the pre-salt layer, Brazil will be the country with the highest growth in IT investments by the end of 2013.

But to maintain this evolution, the sector needs active support from the government, which would include the availability of a greater number of resources for Innovation and Promotion, modernization in labor relations, expansion of professional training and a solution to tax issues. Furthermore, it would be important for the government to treat the IT sector as a strategic segment in all spheres and assume the position of the largest buyer of national technology and not the biggest competitor in the sector.

The ABES Sofware Conference, which took place on August 21, in São Paulo, showed what is already being done to make this growth really effective, through the professionals and cases presented. The representative of the Department of Informatics Policies of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), José Henrique Dieguez, highlighted the role of the ministry in managing and encouraging innovation in Brazil and cited the Startup Brasil program, which is part of the TI Maior Plan. . The government will be an important source to accelerate these incubators and, without a doubt, the software companies will be the main beneficiaries.

The case of Pixeon Medical System, a company specialized in the development of PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems), was a clear example of how micro and small entrepreneurs can benefit from the right investor. To be one of the main suppliers in the market, the first step taken by Pixeon was to raise funds for innovation with the Finep/CNPQ line of credit and promotion. With an important and innovative product in hand, the company opted for investment funds from Intel Capital, in order to gain market share.

Another measure recently announced by the government will also contribute to the growth of the national software and services industry. The new ordinance released by the Ministry of Communications determines that the exemption of smartphones manufactured in the country is applied only to devices that have a package of at least five national applications. It is worth mentioning that this segment was responsible for 42.2% of investments in software in Brazil, in 2012. smartphones in the country rose 110% in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year, to 8.3 million units, according to a survey by IDC Brasil.

The development of mobile applications can be a great opportunity to leverage the national software sector in the coming years. Other opportunities present themselves with the growth of businesses in “Cloud Computing”, “Big Data” and Social Media. However, it will be essential for the government to create a favorable business environment, eliminating the main obstacles to maintaining the evolution of the sector and making it more competitive.