Colombia to Use IT to Stimulate Various Business Sectors

Colombia’s ICT ministry Fedesoft has launched an ambitious study to identify opportunities for the development of software industry in five of its major industrial regions: the Caribbean, Santanderes, Antioquia, the Pacific Coffee Triangle and Cundinamarca.

If all goes according to the plan, the Andean country will soon have six software development centers across the country, each dedicated to developing software for specific verticals of the economy.

The real aim of the program is to bolster different business segments through use of information technology. For example, the proposed development center in Santanderes would be dedicated to developing software for hydrocarbons and the mining industry.

The Ministry would focus on developing banking software in Cundinamarca and logistics- and transportation-related software in the Caribbean. Likewise, the government would support the biotechnology and bioinformatics industry in the Coffee Triangle region, and agribusiness in the Pacific.

In recent years Colombia has achieved significant success in developing its IT industry. According to Fedesoft, the country’s IT industry grew 27% between 2011 and 2012, reaching $7.6 billion in sales.

The outcome of the study is set to be disclosed in mid-September and then the government will hold meetings with industry members as well as technology experts to review the  report and devise plans for setting up the software development centers.

Local governments will then be persuaded to implement the program. Such programs, according to the Ministry, have already been successful in many European countries. Maria Isabel Mejia, the Deputy Minister of Technology and Information Systems, stated that the program would help the government modernize different business segments in Colombia.