Anyone who thinks that the problems of Brazil are solved only by its leaders should reconsider their preconceptions. In Araraquara, three and a half hours from São Paulo, resides José de Moura, the executive director of RFID Moura (a member of Moura Informática). Recently, Moura successfully deployed radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at the Lupo sock factory.
Moura (the executive) says he was worried about the lack of high-level labor that reaches developed markets, such as the United States. Therefore, he decided to anticipate the problem and created initiatives to attract young people's interest in technology. Thus, Moura (the company) is building a working campus with at least three main buildings and the investment of a few million Brazilian real—from its own resources, as well as from private bank financing—and is promoting the development of games with high technology.
It may seem easy, listening to Moura explain his vision with calmness and simplicity, but nothing in Brazil is easy. José de Moura thus invests his time reading, conducting studies, having conversations and, as a result, forming creative actions.
"One way to attract young people to become interested in technology," Moura explains, "was to sponsor courses for the production of computer games." The strategy involves offering courses for students starting at age 12, who learn how to create educational games. "There was an eight-year-old boy who became interested in the course and asked to join the group. We talked to the educators about the possibility, since he was younger than the others. We ended up allowing him to enter, and the boy excelled in his projects," Moura adds with obvious satisfaction.
Now, Moura is building a huge campus to house his company, on a lot spanning 13,000 square meters (140,000 square feet). With work that must be delivered within fewer than six months, one building will be for the administration, another will be allotted to software development and a third will feature an exhibition area to display the technologies that Moura develops, primarily regarding RFID and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Additional construction will be carried out at a later date, Moura says, noting that half of the financial resources for the new headquarters came from the coffers of Moura Informática, while the rest were obtained via a bank loan, without government support. "We are preserving nature and we are going to promote sustainable initiatives," he states. "Parking, for example, will have cables to recharge hybrid car batteries. We have been visiting overseas companies to bring innovative ideas."
The work area also involves leisure and food. A large kitchen is being built to allow employees to feed themselves. "In the old building," Moura explains, "we already have a kitchen. It's much better to make food for the group, because people end up eating better, and in a balanced way."
JN Moura Informática was launched 25 years ago as a software house to develop systems for commercial automation. These days, it serves more than 3,000 clients throughout Brazil, with a focus on updating companies' commercial management and fiscal apparatus.
The firm offers management tools through ten divisions specializing in vertical markets. These include PetMoura, for pet shops and veterinary clinics; PostoMoura, for fuel stations; FarMoura, for pharmacies and drugstores; MagazineMoura, for retail clothing and footwear stores; OSMoura, for establishments that use service orders; Menu Moura, for restaurants, bars and snack bars; SisMoura, for retail stores in general; AgroMoura, for farm management; CottonMoura¸ for organizing the management of cotton; and RequestMoura, for product distributors.
