From the Archives: Colombia uses ICT to Fuel Development; ICT Leader in LATAM

Photo credit: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/deloitte-consumers-using-more-healthcare-tech

In an earlier post, we summarized the Colombian government’s ambitious plan to store all of its 46 million citizen’s personal data on the cloud through an app known as the Carpeta ciudadana. That was only the beginning.

Basically, the Colombian Government has declared war on the country’s social, economic, and political environments, using ICT as its main weapon to DRASTICALLY transform the lives of its citizens by 2018. Colombia’s official ICT strategy, Vive Digital, is an entire digital eco-system designed to use ICT to–among other things–overcome poverty, transform the health sector, change the justice system, aid the hearing and vision impaired, and overhaul education.

Vive Digital has two hefty goals for the country over the next four years:

• To make Colombia the world leader in the development of social applications directed at the poorest of the poor.
• To use ICT to make the Colombian Government the world’s most efficient and transparent Government.

 Ambitious huh? These statistics about Colombia present a compelling story

• In Colombia alone, between 2007-2012 Revenue’s in the country’s IT sector grew by 177%, reaching US $6.8 billion dollars.
• During the same period, the software industry in Colombia grew 3.79x due to the strengthening of the sector from Government Programs.
• Recognizing the need for more software engineers and computer scientists, Colombia invested in the Digital Talent Initiative  allowing students to study tech degrees for free.

Now consider these statistics for LATAM: This year in Latin America, the sale of the tablet will grow an estimated 24%, smartphones 18%, professional ICT services 11%, storage 11%, and software bundles 10%. Overall the ICT industry in this region is expected to grow 3.2%. While major economic growth is expected in Peru 6.3%, Chile 4.8%, and Colombia 5.8%. (SOURCE). Telecommunications investment will increase to $219 billion USD, and the ICT market will represent $358 billion USD. The Main trends in this industry include: the Cloud, Big Data, mobility, and social media.(SOURCE: siliconweek)

While countries throughout Latin America have also created ICT plans, Colombia holds a clear advantage: the re-election of President Juan Manuel Santos has allowed long-term growth in terms of government projects and partnerships. Vive Digital is now an eight-year project–uninterrupted by transitions in political administration.

Companies with a broad range of ICT expertise should look to invest in Latin American markets—and soon—using Government incentives as a way to enter the market and/or organically grow through acquisitions. Significant growth in the IT industry, software sector growing due to Government Programs, targeted Government Incentives for the ICT industry, a commitment to educate youth in the sector, a plan to fuel development through ICT, stable political environment that spans eight years...I’d start with Colombia.

Considersome of these Colombian ICT Businesses.

From the Archives: Colombian Government Unveils Ambitious ICT plan

 So while I was trying to breathe life into this post about how the ICT sector has real potential to change the way we change the world, the Colombian Government goes and announces something awesomely ambitious.

In 2018, the Colombian Government will launch the Carpeta ciudadana application: in it’s primary phase, every Colombian will have a space on the cloud to store their medical records, certificates, public documents, and academic transcripts.

Photo credit: http://mintic.gov.co

 By providing each citizen with an email account, space on the Cloud, digital identification, access to public services online, and a readily accessible medical history, Colombians will be seamlessly connected to the national Government and public services.

Once the kinks get worked out, this app will greatly improve the quality of life of everyone in the country—or at least those with Internet access and the knowledge to use it. (Remember my post about having to mail 24 pages to the capital each pay period before I could get paid? The cloud would solve that problem).

 What exactly is the cloud? The cloud is a space for data storage/access over the Internet instead of your computer’s hard drive. (Think Dropbox). With the cloud you can access your information using any device with an internet connection. For the Colombian people some of the major benefits of transitioning to the cloud include:

1.  Less harm to the environment, as we eliminate the need for papers and copies.
2. More efficient and faster public services, as info is both more readily available and more complete.
3. Streamlined payroll systems, which would lead to a consistent pay schedule, immediately improving quality of life.
4. A diverse number of ways to access your information, so, if the power is out or the Wi-Fi is down, you can still access your info from your cell phone or tablet.

Before we get into my concerns and those of the Colombian people, let’s just take this in for a moment: all public and private documents for all Colombian citizens will now be stored on the Cloud. If this can be executed safely, securely, and consistently imagine how monumental this will be for the Colombian people and the Colombian Government. Colombia will blaze the way for Governments all over the world and the lives of it’s people will be forever transformed.

Now to the concerns.  In total there are approximately 46,000,000 people in Colombia. FORTY-SIX million (Source: CIA World Factbook). According to Colombia’s ICT website, approximately 9,000,000 have access to the Internet. That’s about 19% of the population. What I’m concerned about is the other 81% of Colombian citizens, who may become even more marginalized as the rest of the country moves on to digital storage. Due to the potential risks, I also think that citizens should be given the choice to opt-in or opt-out of the program. In terms of infrastructure, for those with internet service, how reliable is it outside of the major hubs like Medellin, Bogota, Cali, Barranquilla, and Cartagena?

 Some Concerns of the Colombian People per the Government’s website:

• Many think the idea is buenisimo (really great).
• Some suggested a pilot phase where the Government works with people from different parts of life with varying levels of internet access.
• Many worry that corruption in the government will put their most private info in the hands of dangerous individuals.
• Many worry about security/privacy.
• Many question how this application will affect people in the campo where the internet service is virtually non-existent.

While this app has the potential to literally transform the lives of Colombian citizens, is four years enough to make the changes necessary for this initiative to benefit the other 81% of the population? Do you think Colombia’s plan to connect every citizen’s personal data to the cloud is a good idea? Will it further marginalize the poorest of the poor? 

Let us know in the comments.

Visit the Colombian Government’s ICT site here to learn about other life-changing initiatives. (SPANISH).