Narayan AmmachchiChile leads Latin American countries in the digital competitiveness ranking prepared by Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
Placing 37th, Chile jumped three slots from the last year’s ranking, and is followed by Mexico in the 51st spot.
The other LatAm countries are ranked at the bottom of the table, with Argentina improving two spots from 57th to 55th and Brazil dropping slightly from 55th to 57th position.
Peru has improved in the overall ranking, moving up from 62nd to 60th as a result of better performance in developing skilled talent.
Colombia has dropped slightly to the 59th spot from 58th in the overall ranking, largely due to the declining investment in future readiness. “Colombia’s performance in future readiness is negatively affected by its attitudes toward globalization and knowledge transfer,” the report noted.
The institute has expressed concern at the declining rate of R&D expenditure in Brazil, adding that many businesses in Latin America’s largest economy are not using big data and analytics.
Considering the report, Argentina needs to invest more in education and remove barriers hindering people from starting a business or seeking banking and financial services.
Topping the index is the United States, followed by Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland.
However, IMD says it saw some ‘worrying signs’ in US digital competitiveness. A slow growth in the number of STEM graduates, tightening immigration law and the ‘attitudes toward globalization’ are the major factors posing a threat to the US’s dominance in the global technology market.
Canada, on the other hand, is making great strides, with its talent pool expanding and training programs reaching a wider population.
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