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Software and information services (SIS) have become a field of increasing opportunities for international trade due to the worldwide diffusion of a combination of technological and organizational innovations. In several regions, the software industry is organized in clusters, usually referred to as "knowledge cities" because of the growing importance of knowledgeintensive services in their economy. This paper has two primary objectives. First, it raises three major questions related to the attractiveness of different cities in Argentina and Brazil for hosting software companies and to their impact on local development. Second, a new taxonomy is proposed for grouping clusters according to their dominant business segment, ownership pattern and scope of operations. The purpose of this taxonomy is to encourage further studies and provide an exploratory analytical tool for analyzing software clusters.keywords Software and information service clusters, knowledge cities, Brazil, Argentina, industrial and technology policies. RESUMO A indústria de software e serviços de informação vem ganhando crescente importância no comércio internacional, graças à difusão de inovações tecnológicas combinadas a mudanças organizacionais. Em muitas regiões tal indústria é organizada em clusters apelidados de "cidades do conhecimento" em função da crescente importância de serviços intensivos em tecnologia em sua economia. Este artigo tem dois objetivos. Primeiro, ele levanta três questões chaves relativas à atratividade de diferentes cidades na Argentina e no Brasil para empresas de software e seus impactos no desenvolvimento local. Segundo, é proposta uma nova taxonomia com o objetivo de agrupar clusters de acordo com o segmento dominante de negócios, origem do capital e escopo de operações. O propósito da nova taxonomia é oferecer uma ferramenta analítica exploratória para analisar clusters de software. PALAVRAS-CHAVE

The aim of this paper is to discuss the main elements that define an information technology (IT) diffusion policy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to discuss the relevance of this policy for developing countries. The paper will review how innovation and regional development studies confer on SMEs an important role in economic development. Furthermore, it presents a discussion on the present supply and demand oriented IT diffusion policies in developed countries, that reveals the challenges for policy definition. In conclusion, the main elements that define an IT policy for SMEs will be highlighted, and lessons for developing countries will be discussed.

Brazil’s telecommunications sector has been going through a process of privatization that will change conditions for information technologies (IT) diffusion among Brazilian firms. The impacts of privatization will be especially important to Brazilian firms that are still in the early stages of IT diffusion, such as small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim of this paper is to discuss the impacts of privatization of telecommunications on IT diffusion among Brazilian SMEs. The paper will first analyze the factors that stimulate SMEs to adopt IT, such as the positive impacts on competitiveness. The paper will then describe how the changes that are taking place in the telecommunications sector can influence IT diffusion. In the third section, the paper will consider the case of Brazil, discussing the specificities of IT diffusion in SMEs from developing countries. As a conclusion the paper will discuss how policy measures can be taken so that Brazilian SMEs can benefit from the changes in the telecommunications sector.

Purpose: This paper aims to identify metrics and indicators of innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurial ecosystems and to discuss the limitations of these metrics in the Brazilian case. Theoretical framework: From a theoretical point of view, the paper contributes to the analysis of the differences and similarities between the concepts of innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurial ecosystems. From a methodological perspective, the paper proposes indicators and metrics and points out the limitations for measuring entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystems in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach: The study’s qualitative approach is based on a literature review, a documentary research, and data collection for the characterization of innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurial ecosystems. The paper identifies the main indicators and metrics, their data sources and the limitations of these indicators and metrics in the Brazilian case. Findings: It was observed that despite the existence of multiple data sources, the measurement of entrepreneurial ecosystems in Brazil entails constraints such as time lag of the data; voluntary filling of databases; lack of transparency at the regional level; and incomplete or skewed data. Research, Practical & Social implications: From a theoretical point of view, the paper contributes to the analysis of the differences and similarities between the concepts of innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurial ecosystems. From a methodological point of view, the study proposes indicators and metrics and points out the limitations for the measurement of entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystems in Brazil. Originality/value: When identifying limitations, the paper proposes alternatives to improve the measurement of innovation ecosystems and entrepreneurial ecosystems in the country and in its different regions. This is essential for designing and monitoring public policies to support innovation, especially those aimed to support entrepreneurs and small businesses.

This article aims to analyze the profile of Brazilian entrepreneurs and the factors that shape the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. A survey was conducted with 76 Brazilian entrepreneurs from the ICT sector, which was chosen because of its high growth rates. The research was developed in the context of a joint project called Entrepreneurship as a Growth Driver that involves universities from five countries: Italy, Brazil, Russia, India and China. The objective of the project was to study the key factors of entrepreneurial ecosystem that facilitate the growth of knowledge-intensive enterprises in each country. In this paper, we focus on the results obtained for Brazil. We used exploratory factorial analysis and non-hierarchy cluster K-means as methods in order to reach the research objectives. From the analysis of the results, three groups of entrepreneurs with distinct profiles emerged. The data also revealed that the social elements are more important than the personal issues and public policies have an essential role in the development and maintenance of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Brazil. As limitations, we consider that the low quantity of entrepreneurs can jeopardize the generalization of the findings. Therefore, the replication of this research and the performing of cross-cultural studies are presented as suggestions for future research. Besides, new concepts of Brazilian entrepreneurs based on a quantitative analysis constitute the originality of this study. KEYWORDS EntrepreneurshipInformation and Communication Technologies Brazilian entrepreneurial ecosystem.