Latin America ‘Weak’ Infrastructure Starts to Get a Major Facelift
February 3rd, 2012
Peru, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Colombia drive forward with big projects
By Clayton Browne
Latin America has long been considered a laggard in terms of global infrastructure development, but that perception should be changing. Countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Puerto Rico have all begun major long-term infrastructure projects ranging from roads to dams to telecommunications towers to airports. Infrastructure development in the areas of energy, transportation and telecommunications have seen the greatest recent growth, with estimates ranging as high as $450 billion, to be spent on infrastructure in the area between 2011 and 2015.
Can Latin American Providers Meet the Demand?
February 2nd, 2012
By Bill Huber, Partner, ISG, and Kristen Elvinger, Research Associate
Concerns exist over the capacity of Latin American service providers to absorb rapid growth. Several global providers currently have a presence in Latin America, and tax and other trade incentives will help attract more outsourcers to the region. And, many Latin American countries are positioned to further develop emerging areas of specialization. Indeed, lessons learned from India, China, and some Eastern European countries suggest that specialization and quality-focused differentiation will be the keys to success, especially for countries with small populations.
Telefonica’s Wayra and MIT Sign Global Partnership
January 27th, 2012Source: The Next Web
Telefonica‘s startup accelerator Wayra and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) signed a global partnership, the two entities announced. The agreement was signed during the launch of Mexico’s Wayra Academy.
As we reported, Wayra is an initiative promoted by Telefonica Digital to foster entrepreneurship and innovation in the ICT sector. Wayra works as a startup accelerator, selecting ten projects in each country in which it operates, which then receive mentoring and other resources at one of the newly opened Wayra spaces.
Initially launched in seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela), Wayra is now expanding to Europe, starting with the imminent launch of a Wayra Academy in Madrid.
Following Wayra’s agreement with MIT, the two entities will collaborate on a series of initiatives in Latin America. Wayra academies in Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina are the first to join the …
Chile Takes Lead as Most Globalized LatAm Economy
January 24th, 2012Source: The Santiago Times
Chile has emerged as the most globalized economy in Latin America and moved up to 25th place in the world, according to global consulting firm Ernst & Young.
Chile is among the countries to improve their position despite global economic uncertainty, the firm’s annual Globalization Index found.
“Unlike other countries, the policies of Chilean governments have promoted openness in times of turbulence, taking the sufficient precautions so the economic turmoil does not hit the country hard,” Cristián Lefevre, senior partner of Ernst & Young Chile, told El Mercurio.
The globalization measurement is based on five factors: foreign trade, capital movement, exchange of technology and ideas, labor movement, and cultural integration.
Chile’s greatest strength in 2011 was the arrival of foreign capital, which ranked fourth globally, behind Ireland, Hong Kong and Belgium. Chile also scored high in foreign trade.
Technology and cultural integration were cited as the country’s weakest …
Chilean Entrepreneurs Enter Intense Silicon Valley Program
January 19th, 2012An elite group of Chilean entrepreneurs are beginning a one-month immersive work experience at SRI International to advance venture opportunities. The five teams participating in SRI’s Venture Readiness Program were selected from more than 75 teams representing the top Chilean universities, in a program sponsored by CORFO, the Chilean Economic Development Agency.
The work experience is part of CORFO’s “de la Idea al Mercado: Go to Market” program, which identifies early-stage venture opportunities for entrepreneurs who could benefit from relationships with Silicon Valley experts. The program is part of Chile’s overall strategy to develop sectors of their economy into globally competitive industries.
“We warmly welcome this group of Chilean entrepreneurs to SRI as they embark on an important step in their efforts to commercialize their visions on the global stage,” said Stephen Ciesinski, SRI vice president of Strategic Business Initiatives. “We will work with each team to develop components needed for market …
Piñera Warns Of Energy Crisis in Chile
January 18th, 2012Source: Merco Press
President Sebastián Piñera announced a 20-year plan for Chile’s energy needs at the annual energy dinner in front of the country’s top executives in the electricity sector. The president said the plan aims to create “a cleaner energy, that is safer, more economical and that agrees with the energy requirements of our country.”
The eight-point plan focused on making Chile’s energy production more efficient and improving sources of renewable energy. The measure includes implementation of energy savings of up to 12%, equivalent to about 1,100 megawatts of electricity by 2020.
Piñera warned executives that Chile would face an energy crisis during his administration and beginning in 2015 the country could face serious problems. The demand for energy in the country is estimated to grow an average of 6 or 7% annually until 2020.
Among other measures Piñera planned to combat these problems by increasing the percentage of Chile’s …
Chile and Massachusetts Form Historic Alliance
December 26th, 2011Source: The Santiago Times
Involving leading institutions in Chile and the USA, the agreement aims to foster research in the fields of education, energy and biotechnology.
The Chilean government has signed a strategic bilateral agreement with the state of Massachusetts, opening the way for collaborative research in the key areas of education, energy and biotechnology.
In an interview with EFE press agency, Chilean Ambassador to the United States Arturo Fermandois said the deal was part of a broader plan to transform Chile into a fully-fledged developed nation by the end of the decade.
Home to some of the world’s leading universities, including Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Tufts, Fermandois said Massachusetts was an “ideal partner” for the South American nation.
“It’s the state that generates the most knowledge, the state that is granted the most patents and the state that has the most productive academics.”
Each year the …
Chile’s Piñera Vows to Strengthen Ties with Argentina
December 13th, 2011Source: I Love Chile
On Dec. 10, President Sebastián Piñera attended the inauguration ceremony for Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the President of Argentina, for her second term in office, pledging to strengthen the relationship between Argentina and Chile.
He stated that Chile’s main objective was “to have the best relationship with every country in the world, but particularly with our neighbors.”
Those present at the ceremony included presidents Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, Evo Morales of Bolivia, José Mujica of Uruguay and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, among other dignitaries.
Although relations between the two countries have been a little bumpy, there has been no major direct conflict since the 1970s, which was a territorial conflict. Since the transitions to democracy in Chile in 1989 and Argentina in 1983, there has been greater economic integration, though Chile has had more of stable growth while Argentina has had ups and downs. Now, the …
Setting Out to Train More Scrum Masters and Develop More ‘Agile Nations’
December 13th, 2011By Dennis Barker
In the big international competition with India and other low-cost outsourcing destinations, some Nearshore IT providers have been taking their game to the next level (apologies for the sports cliche) by adopting agile software-development methods. And one of the keys to helping teams become skilled agile players is to hire or train good coaches – leaders who are certified scrum masters.
(Scrum is defined by the Scrum Alliance as “an agile framework for completing complex projects.” The term was adapted from rugby – hence the sports cliche – in a 1986 study by Takeuchi and Nonaka that alluded to a team trying to “go the distance as a unit, passing the ball back and forth.”)
Chilean Key Interest Rates Remain Steady
December 6th, 2011Source: Bloomberg
Chile’s economy is weathering the global economic downturn with near full employment, indicating interest rates may remain at their highest level in almost three years, the central bank’s deputy governor said.
“My base scenario is that the economy is at a level consistent with potential output, so monetary policy should continue to be more or less in a neutral stance,” Manuel Marfan said in an interview in Santiago yesterday. “But there are risks, and it all depends on the size of the shocks.”
Policy makers have kept the key interest rate at 5.25 percent at their past five meetings as they wait to see if the European crisis will erode demand for commodity exports and damp inflationary pressures. The economy grew 3.4 percent in October from a year ago, the slowest pace since the aftermath of an February 2010 earthquake, the central bank reported yesterday.
“There are signals that there …
