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Nathan Younge (center), USTDA Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, poses for a photograph with Steve Knode (third from left), Deputy Senior Commercial Officer, Antonio Ramos Gomes, PROCERGS’ President and other staff members following an IT modernization grant signing on Aug. 7, 2015 in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Nathan Younge (center), USTDA Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, poses for a photograph with Steve Knode (third from left), Deputy Senior Commercial Officer, Antonio Ramos Gomes, PROCERGS’ President and other staff members following an

USTDA Advances IT Modernization in Southern Brazil

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RIO GRANDE DO SUL, Brazil – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a grant to the Companhia de Processamento de Dados do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (PROCERGS), Rio Grande do Sul’s state information technology (IT) company.  The $356,920 grant will provide technical assistance to help PROCERGS develop a roadmap to expand the state’s fiber and wireless broadband network and to modernize its existing data center. 

“This project builds upon the efforts of Brazilian state information technology companies to modernize and expand their IT services,” said USTDA Regional Director Nathan Younge, who signed the grant along with PROCERGS’ President, Antonio Ramos Gomes.  “The grant highlights how our countries can cooperate to improve digital inclusion throughout Brazil.”

The technical assistance will provide a strategy to expand the state’s existing hybrid fiber and wireless broadband network in order to provide connectivity and e-government services throughout the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.  The technical assistance will include the development of data center specifications, a statewide hybrid broadband network architecture and implementation plans for the modernization of both the data center and broadband network.  It will also evaluate new business models that PROCERGS can implement, such as partnerships, sale of telecommunications services, dark fiber leasing, and the exchange of capacity with other operators seeking to expand their own networks. 

The opportunity to conduct the USTDA-funded technical assistance will be competed on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website.  A link to the FBO announcement will be posted to USTDA’s website at www.ustda.gov.  Interested U.S. firms should submit proposals according to the instructions in the FBO announcement.

This project follows previous USTDA efforts to support IT modernization across Brazil, including ongoing technical assistance with the state of Sergipe.

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Anna Humphrey at (703) 875-4357