IBM and the Government of Brazil have opened a new research laboratory in Brazil to develop technology for a smarter planet.
Lab personnel will begin operations at existing IBM locations in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and the company said that it will work with local governments to determine the future locations of IBM Research – Brazil.
IBM said that the lab will grow to more than 100 world-class researchers and these specialists will be added to the team of approximately 3,000 IBM researchers, in eight labs, in six countries.
The company said that the new lab will be integrated into its worldwide research and development organisations to enhance scientific discovery and apply the results to address the planet’s challenges.
According to IBM, the research conducted in the new lab in Brazil will focus on smarter natural resource discovery, exploration and logistics; smarter devices that can be created using advances in semiconductors aiming the challenges of building a smarter planet; and smarter ‘human systems’, with an emphasis on large-scale events.
In addition, the research operations could expand to smarter healthcare, transportation, agribusiness, and the required information technologies, including supercomputing that will support these industries.
John Kelly III, senior vice president and director of IBM Research, said: “IBM Research addresses some of the most significant challenges of our time by discovering how science and technology can improve the way the world works.
“Brazil’s abundance of natural resources and technical talent presents unique research opportunities and the ability to deploy them to solve increasingly important problems. The new lab also gives IBM scientists the opportunity to extend their collaboration with universities, government organisations, and companies in Brazil and across Latin America.”
