"IBM's Linux Technology Center team in Brazil is fast becoming a worldwide leader in driving innovative Linux and open source technologies into emerging markets," said Jeff Smith, vice president, open source and Linux middleware, IBM.

IBM recently announced that it will invest US$2.2 million in 2006 to expand its Linux Technology Center (LTC) in Brazil.

Developers at the LTC will work to make Linux more efficient, specializing in developing Linux systems with cell, power and virtualization technologies, IBM said.

The investment will be used to complete construction of a Linux development laboratory in Hortolandia and expand a second lab in Campinas, on Brazil's Unicamp campus. It will assist with upgrading lab construction and equipment, furthering software development projects with Linux, and expanding student internships and job opportunities for recent graduates as a result of a collaboration between IBM and Unicamp, a university in Brazil.

"IBM's Linux Technology Center team in Brazil is rapidly becoming a worldwide leader for driving innovative Linux and open source technologies into emerging markets," said Jeff Smith, vice president, open source and Linux middleware, IBM. "The Center is helping customers gain a competitive edge from Linux-based solutions by working with Brazilian universities to advance educational opportunities for students, and stimulate technology and economic development in the region."

With the announcement, the LTC in Brazil will now become one of the five largest centers of its kind in the world.