Wow!Systems is a high-tech start up with a focus on creating paradigms of interaction and interactivetechnologies, i.e., interactive multimedia solutions.According to the founders of the company: we deliver experiences that really make people go "Wow!" byapplying novel interaction techniques to areas such as tourism, entertainment, advertising, education andculture. We combine industrial experience, creativity and hard work. Wow! offers expertise in developing mobileapplications for several platforms (We) also deliver web-based solutions [and] other services including thedevelopment of interactive surfaces, from magic floors to gesture controlled projections or multitouch screens.

The entrepreneurs background

This is a family business project that was born in 2008 when the two Campos brothers, Ana Marta (a biological engineering graduate) and Fernando Miguel (a law graduate), saw an area with an attractive market opportunity, although it was an area in which neither had a career path. They became aware that at that time there was a lack of companies offering people access to new and modern content and digital technologies, whether they were consumers of a product, visitors to museums, or tourists. Today Miguel Campos manages the enterprise and considers that although I have a professional lawyerslicense, I believe that the personal fulfillment from being an entrepreneur is incomparably superior. Creating something from scratch and seeing the development of an idea can be more rewarding than any other type of work.He has been the coordinator of all R&D projects carried out by the company, making the link between the company's technicians and any customer or national/international partner. Examples of this are the installation of a "Wow! Floor " at the World Expo in Zaragoza, and the installation of an interactive display in the Regionalexposition Cultural Tourism which was inaugurated by the President of the Portuguese Republic Anibal Cavaco Silva Since the beginning of the project both entrepreneurs have had the help of their older brother - Professor Pedro Campos - who currently teaches and is part of the research team of Madeira University (UMa) Department of engineering and Mathematics. He is the link person to that Institution and the scientific consultant for WOW! The company started with a pilot project mounted in Porto Moniz Living Science Centre (run by the NorthernDevelopment Society of Madeira) where they were in charge of the entire interactive technological infrastructure(technology-based sensors and intuitive physical interfaces) with the main goal of changing the way visitors interacted with digital content.

The project - Innovative by nature

According to Miguel Campos, the company can be considered a spin-off since the idea was born from a set of master's theses held at the University of Madeira. The technology already existed and comes from a set of market-oriented research projects over the past 3 years, in the area of human-computer interaction. We noted that these ideas had great market potential and that there was human capital with enough talent to pass from the academic level to the real world. So we decided to create WOW! Thus, the entrepreneurs see this close link with the local University as a strength that will allow resources to be allocated more quickly and securely.

Moreover, there was, and still is, a growing stake in the area of human-machine Interaction in the MadeiraAutonomous Region, mainly due to the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) program that began in 2007 as the result of a partnership made between CMU, UMa, and the Madeira Tecnopolo

(the local science park). This mainly concerns the design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive electronic systems focused on the relationship between humans and technology. In addition to the potential of the project, the people that work at WOW! are young, creative, motivated, highly qualified, and have specific training in human-machine interfaces. The innovative nature of this project is demonstrated by the type of product and services that they offer. The company is aiming to provide

original solutions and flexible interactive installations, interactive three-dimensional objects, and films through a differentiated service based on technology developed internally.Currently WOW! is working with a range of products and in different fields: culture, education, advertising, tourism, environment, and public administration. The services provided by the company are:

Design of interactive installations for promotional stands, environmental and tourist centers, science parks or entertainment, with interactivity and surprise as key elements; Design and production of interactive multimedia software with tracking of movement that can be integrated into any indoor or outdoor big screen;Design and production of interactive stereoscopic 3D movies, making use of advanced multimedia equipment as augmented reality (3D), holograms, or fog screens; Development and design of applications for the most popular mobile platforms (iPhone, Blackberry, Google Android)Development and design of Web-based applications using Flash technologies, Flex, PHP, MySQL, Java, etc.

Madeira University: www.uma.pt

Carnegie Mellon University Program: www.cmuportugal.org

Madeira Tecnopolo: www.madeiratecnopolo.pt

Moreover, at very competitive prices they ensure that each solution offered to the client is original, unique and personalized, and can

focus the attention of the user on what really matters - the scientific or educational content.The EMPREENDINOV financial support to innovation and entrepreneurship Given the high level of innovation, largely due to the strong link with Madeira University Research Department and to the first-movers advantage in the regional market, Wow! Systems obtained financial support from the regional Fund Empreendinov (2007-20013) - which targets entrepreneurship and innovation and operates within QREN (the national strategic framework for implementation of the funds allocated in Portugal by the European Union).

Thanks to this support, WOW!Systems established an office in Funchal, which acts as a showroom for the company and allows them to demonstrate interactively a sample of all kinds of gadgets and technologies that are produced and sold, and to perform tests and evaluations of interactive solutions capable of illustrating theWOW! effect. It is an open space where anyone can interact with our products and solutions.

Empreendinov aims to contribute to the change and growth of the Regional economy, by encouraging the emergence of new entrepreneurs and the creation of new enterprises, that can contribute to the diversification and competitiveness of local businesses, through investments leading to the introduction of new products, new technological processes, new distribution techniques, marketing, information and communication, technical innovation, energy rationalization, and environmental management, among other factors of economic competitiveness.More information: www.dream.ptFrom Madeira to the World - Internationalization strategy

An important issue for the future of the company is how to ensure its competitiveness in the regional and national markets, as well as how to internationalize the business. At the moment, WOW! is selling to the national market, as well as to Italy and Great Britain.

Figure 5 Examples of Projects in the National Market

Thus, considering the advantages stemming from globalization and the current trends in the development of information and communication technologies, international expansion is seen as an opportunity for WOW! to proactively explore new markets. In 2008, WOW! Systems had its first experience of internationalization when it participated in the Zaragoza World Expo with the installation of an interactive floor. Furthermore, as a technology-based company, the issue of globalization is no longer an option but has become a matter of survival. For that reason, WOW! currently has customers scattered throughout the world, as the image below illustrates.

WOW !Systems global activities part of its strategy of internationalization, in addition to targeting international customers, the company has also staked on developing applications for the mobile iPhone. The manager, Miguel Campos, has made the necessary contacts with the technical and commercial leaders of the American company Apple Inc. as well, with the administration and engineering team of KMP Digitata (Manchester, England) to discuss the establishment and development of various projects in partnership.

having decided to internationalize their core business and to have a presence in the global marketplace as technology-based company with services that can be provided at a distance, WOW! Systems intend to invest in creating virtual offices a modern, efficient and cost-effective way to develop a business that helps to reduce the initial cost of setting-up and to appoint commercial representatives in Dubai, Caracas, and Shangai.

Open Questions for Debate

1.What is the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation as a means of stimulating the economy and the creation of new businesses?

2.What are the advantages and difficulties of a business start-up?

3.Is there a right time and manner to move forward with the internationalization process of a technology-based company? Or should technology-based companies be born global?

4. What are the advantages of the new concept of virtual offices in the process of internationalization of a company?

5.How important is knowledge to support innovation?