Colombia Accelerates Efforts to Expand IT Talent Pool

Colombia’s ICT ministry has accelerated efforts to enlarge the country’s tech talent pool, offering financial credits for students enrolling in technology schools.
With analysts predicting the country might fall short of 53,000 IT professionals by the end of 2018, the government is telling college-goers that the IT sector is the place where they can land a job with far more ease.
Colombia offers 80% of training cost for youths pursuing a career in information technology. There are many buyers for this offer. According to the ministry’s statement, 9,400 students have signed up for the program so far this year.
Over the past two years, the Andean country has trained more than 6,000 people in technology under its ambitious program known as Plan Vive Digital. The program, started in 2014, is slated to last until the end of 2018.
With demand for mineral sources dwindling and the peso declining against the U.S. dollar, Colombia is increasingly realizing that digital technology could help sustain the economy in years to come, creating thousands of jobs for the growing middle class.
The ICT Ministry says it has set aside 12 billion pesos (US$4.11 millon) for increasing human talent in the country’s information technology sector.
Besides its own programs, the government is also funding several tertiary education programs designed to teach information technology, and urging universities to enroll as many students as possible in technology education.
Many private firms too have joined forces with the government. Chinese telecom giant Huawei, for example, has agreed to fund the expense of 14 Colombian students traveling to China, where they will try their hands in software development alongside undergoing technology training.