It might be said that Haroldo Jacobovicz was born with the science of engineering in his DNA. Both his parents were successful civil engineers in his native Brazil. In fact, Haroldo’s mother, Sarita, was a trailblazer in the field because she was the only female engineer working in the state of Paraná at the time.
Young Haroldo grew up in admiration of how his parents could apply their skills to build lasting structures – buildings, dams, factories and more. He naturally followed in their footsteps and enrolled as a civil engineering major at The Federal University of Paraná.
However, his engineering studies also led Haroldo Jacobovicz to realize that there were other ways to create platforms and structures that would aid societal progress. He developed a keen interest in computer systems, technology and software.
While still in college, Jacobovicz audaciously launched his first business, a company called Microsystem. The year was 1980 and the purpose of the company was to provide a way for small business owners to automate their inventory and cash management functions.
Microsystem was short-lived. It seems that the business owners of the day weren’t ready to adopt high-tech systems to replace the way they had been handling their affairs using traditional “paper-and-ink” accounting methods for years. It was a learning experience for Haroldo Jacobovicz. Today he is among the most successful businessmen in the Brazilian tech sector. The founder of Horizon Telecom, his company is among the most respected within Brazil’s telecommunications industry. It deploys a 100% fiberoptics network that enables enhanced connectivity via cloud platforms for businesses.
Jacobovicz is the founder of other prominent enterprises in Brazil, including the e-Govern Group and Horizons Datacenters. After decades of building some of the best tech systems in Brazil, Jacobovicz said he remains as intrigued today about the transformative potential of information systems as he was in if college days.