October 26, 2017

Colombia’s Dominance On the Emergent Tech Space

Colombia, Software Development, Technology

Colombia’s Dominance On the Emergent Tech Space

A decade ago, the idea that this country would go from an economy based on its notorious drug trading history to a quickly growing environment for the technology industry would have sounded ludicrous. That’s why nowadays this country has become an emergent space for technologies.

Today, technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, and HP have now opened their innovation centers in Colombia. Colombia now also boasts a robust ecosystem for technology startups.

In the first quarter of 2016, some $4.3 billion in FDI flowed into Colombia, which is almost 160% more than in the same period of 2015, according to the data provided by ProColombia, a government agency in charge of promoting export, tourism, and foreign investment.

Why should you also consider this country as your destination for outsourcing software development?

Apart from the reasons that are common to the whole Latin American region, there are those that are specific for Colombia.

Economically prosperous country


Colombia is one of the six favored emerging markets countries (so-called CIVETS countries). The main qualities of these countries are a diverse and dynamic economy; sophisticated financial systems; controlled inflation; a young and growing population; increased foreign direct investment, and geostrategic locations.

Colombia has the fourth-largest economy in Latin America. In the World Bank’s Ease of doing business index, in 2016 it took second place among Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Furthermore, Colombia carries out the biggest infrastructure program in Latin America (around $5.5 billion). Therefore, the country provides multiple opportunities to foreign investors.

All these factors, plus the fact that the government has eased the financial requirements for business start-ups, contribute to considering Colombia as a very favorable business location and an emergent space for technologies. This trend is evident also in the software development and outsourcing market.

High level of IT education


Image of a modern hall at the University of the Andes in Colombia

Colombia has more than 50 universities. Seven of them are listed among the best in the world.

More than 13,000 engineers and technical professionals graduate in Colombia every year. Also, these professionals join the workforce in the IT field, which already counts for more than 340,000 IT professionals.

Given the high level of IT education and talented workforce, the variety of technologies, and development processes. The American research and advisory firm Gartner identified the country as one of the top 30 countries for offshore services worldwide since 2010.

Government support of IT sector and development


There are more initiatives that support the IT sector, as well as the technological development of the country. We’re mentioning here two of such initiatives that started at the highest level:

Software and IT services make part of the Productive Transformation Program, a government initiative aimed to facilitate and support the Colombian services sector and to promote the strategy of development and growth.

Vive Digital Plan was created in 2010 by The Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies. It is aimed at supporting IT and technological development by bringing the internet to the public, and by driving digital platforms and their 4 main components: infrastructure, IT services, software, and users.

The statistics show that an impressive percentage – 99.8% of businesses in Colombia have gone digital since the plan’s initiation.

Optimism and enthusiasm


emergent space technologies

Optimism and enthusiasm represent Colombians. Also, by successfully carrying out complex and challenging tasks. Colombians will try hard and find ways to make things work. Attitudes definitely needed for software development projects.

Cafeto Software is a nearshore outsourcing company based in Colombia that specializes in working with enterprise application development and custom software development. Our developers are exceptional in dealing with complex business applications and big data analytics. Interested in working with us? Send an email to [email protected] to set up an appointment.

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