Latin America continues to suffer from an important lag in adopting ICT and technology more broadly. Although the region is vast and heterogeneous, three shared reasons for this lag can be identified: these countries all exhibit an insufficient investment in developing their ICT infrastructure, a weak skill base in the population because of poor educational systems that hinder society’s capacity to make an effective use of these technologies, and unfavorable business conditions that do not support the spur of entrepreneurship and innovation. Here goes a short analysis on the top 9 countries that are standing out in the Latam Region.

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TOP 9 Countries IN THE LATAM REGION
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2. ITC ADOPTION IN THE LATAM REGION -2013-
ITC ADOPTION toward more knowledge-based activities.
Information and communication
technologies have an important role to play,
IN THE both in reducing education’s costs and in
organizational innovation to optimize the
LATAM REGION allocation and distribution of human
resources.
2013
1. Chile - 38th position: the country
clearly depicts the strongest
performance in Latin America.
Benefiting from an entrepreneurial-
Latin America continues to suffer from an friendly and well-functioning legal
important lag in adopting ICT and framework, recent efforts to improve the
technology more broadly. This is reflected in overall innovation system, while still
the rankings, as no country manages to insufficient, have paved the way for this
reach the top 30 and only a handful of small top position within the region.
economies manage to be included among Notwithstanding these important merits,
the top 50 the exceptions are Chile and the country still suffers from a series of
Uruguay. Although the region is vast and
weaknesses that do not allow it to
heterogeneous, three shared reasons for benefit from the potential benefits of ICT
this lag can be identified: these countries all and technology more broadly. Although
exhibit an insufficient investment in its ICT infrastructure achieves good
developing their ICT infrastructure, a weak scores in certain dimensions, notably
skill base in the population because of poor mobile network coverage, the
educational systems that hinder society’s technological preparedness of the
capacity to make an effective use of these country is severely hindered by the
technologies, and unfavorable business excessive costs of accessing ICT and
conditions that do not support the spur of above all the poor quality of an
entrepreneurship and innovation. educational system that requires
Addressing these weaknesses will be improvement and that fails to provide
crucial for improving the region’s the necessary skill base to fully optimize
competitiveness and shifting its economies the use of ICT. Therefore, despite the
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3. ITC ADOPTION IN THE LATAM REGION -2013-
government effort to leverage ICT with intensive activities. Addressing these
one of the widest offerings of online weaknesses would represent the next
services in the world, the penetration step to fully leveraging ICT deployment
rates in individual households still lags for competitiveness and social well-
behind. In addition, the business being.
community needs to invest in upgrading
its capacity for innovation in order to
facilitate the achievement of further 3. Panama and Costa Rica - 57th and
economic impacts and shift the national 58th: both countries respectively,
economy toward more knowledge clearly stand out from the rest of the
intensive, higher-value-added activities. countries in Central America a region
that suffers overall from an important
connectivity lag, a low skill base, and
2. Uruguay - 44th place: Uruguay is weaknesses in its business
one of the leading countries in the environment. Despite obtaining similar
region that has recognized the scores and levels of ICT usage,
importance of ICT. This process has Panama and Costa Rica face different
been led by the government, which has challenges to improving their level of
made important efforts to build a good preparedness to leverage ICT for
ICT infrastructure in the country and competitiveness and well-being. In the
grant wide access to ICT to school case of Panama while by regional
pupils with its one computer per student standards the country benefits from a
policy. Despite these efforts, the fairly good ICT infrastructure, especially
technological readiness of the country in terms of international Internet
still needs improvement, especially in bandwidth the very low skill base
terms of raising the quality of the hinders its capacity to achieve higher
educational system that presently ICT uptakes and stronger economic
hinders the ability to seize the full impacts. Conversely, Costa Rica
benefits of the opportunities that ICT benefits from a strong skill base thanks
and technology more broadly, can offer. to a well-performing educational system,
Moreover, weaknesses in the innovation but the country suffers from an ICT
system, especially at the corporate infrastructure lag that thwarts its ability
level, hamper the capacity of the country to achieve higher ICT uptake rates. In
to move toward more knowledge- both cases, improving their overall
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4. ITC ADOPTION IN THE LATAM REGION -2013-
innovation systems would allow them to uptake. On the one hand, the
benefit further from the ICT efforts and government offers a large number of
contribute to shifting their economies public services online and the
toward more knowledge intensive information it provides through its
activities, especially in the case of websites encourages citizens’
Panama. participation. Moreover, Colombia
benefits from a relatively skillful
population. On the other hand, the
4. Brazil - 65th place: positioned country still suffers from important
narrowly above the middle range of the challenges that hamper its capacity to
ranking, Brazil benefits from strong leverage ICT to boost competitiveness
levels of business ICT usage. These, and raise well-being. The lag in terms of
combined with fairly advanced levels of ICT infrastructure and digital content,
technological capacity in particular coupled with unfavorable framework
segments of its industry, allows the conditions for entrepreneurship and
country to achieve one of the strongest innovation, result in a low ICT usage by
performances of ICT enabled businesses. In addition, the uptake of
innovations in the region, both in terms ICT by individuals is still low, with less
of new products and services and more than 20 percent of the population
efficient processes. Notwithstanding accessing the Internet at home.
these strengths, its overall business
environment with its burdensome
procedures to create new businesses 6. Mexico – 76th place:: the
and its high tax rates, in addition to its government has made important efforts
high mobile cellular tariffs and poor skill to increase the number of services
availability, hinder the potential of the online and boost the e-participation of
Brazilian economy to fully benefit from citizens through useful, high-quality, and
ICT and shift toward more knowledge relevant websites that provide
based activities at a faster pace. information, thus enhancing public
governance. However, the country still
faces significant weaknesses. An
5. Colombia - 73rd place: right below insufficient development of ICT
the median, Colombia presents a mixed infrastructure, especially in terms of
picture in terms of ICT development and international Internet bandwidth,
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5. ITC ADOPTION IN THE LATAM REGION -2013-
coupled with the high costs of order to further leverage ICT usage,
telecommunications and poor reducing the high costs of accessing
educational standards negatively ICT would be beneficial. In addition,
influence the effective and productive addressing the enduring shortcomings
use of ICT by individuals and in the political and regulatory
businesses. Moreover, despite the environment as well as in the framework
recent improvements that facilitate conditions to boost entrepreneurship
entrepreneurship by reducing the and innovation would allow the country
number of procedures and time to open to increasingly shift its economy toward
a business, the functioning of some more knowledge-intensive, higher-
public institutions and the development value-added activities.
of a strong innovation system are still
pending challenges to creating a
conducive environment for higher ICT 8. Peru - 106th place: despite the
impacts. Addressing these weaknesses economic growth, Peru has experienced
in a holistic manner will determine the in the past year, at the country still lags
success of the country in benefitting significantly behind in terms of ICT. An
from the opportunities that ICT has to insufficiently developed and expensive
offer. ICT infrastructure, coupled with a low-
quality educational system hinders the
preparedness of Peru to make an
7. Argentina - 92nd position: the effective use of ICT. As a result, the use
country benefits from a fairly well of ICT by all three actors individual,
developed ICT infrastructure, especially business, and government is still low,
in terms of international Internet and despite relatively good framework
bandwidth and high levels of adult conditions for entrepreneurship, the
literacy that could pave the way to a potential economic impacts are not yet
high and effective ICT uptake by all accruing.
members of society. However, while
________________________________
individuals reach acceptable usage
rates, businesses seem to lag behind,
and the perception of the business
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community is that the government is not herve@delhumeau.com
prioritizing the use of ICT sufficiently. In
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6. ITC ADOPTION IN THE LATAM REGION -2013-
PERSONAL NOTES
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