Very recently, Carlota Pérez pointed out that countries like Uruguay can leap into development if they take advantage of the technological revolution underway, which involves Information Technologies (ICT). The ICT sector had a turnover of US$ 1,068 million in 2015 and has zero unemployment, i.e. unsatisfied demand for skilled employment. The sector's performance is a model advance against the primarisation, foreignisation and inequality of our economy.
On its website, the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI), presided over by Álvaro Lamé, which has so often been covered by Caras y Caretas, reports that it groups 350 companies, reaches 52 export markets, grants 60 benefits, allows access to more than US$ 10,000,000 in business opportunities, has been in the market for 25 years and employs 16,000 professionals, all data preceded by the plus sign.
What it does not add, curiously, is that the sector has "0" unemployment, or better still, negative unemployment (since it has unsatisfied demand for qualified technicians), and that in 2015 it had a turnover of US$ 1,068 million, equivalent to 7.87% of our total exports in that year, and almost 2% of GDP at the end of that year.
Much more important than these very significant quantitative considerations is to read the characteristics of the sector's development in our country, given the recent statements by Carlota Pérez reported here: the world-renowned expert pointed out that countries like ours can leap into economic development if they know how to take advantage of the conditions provided by the technological revolution currently underway, dominated by information technologies, while we prepare to take on those that will dominate the next wave, such as biotechnology (in which we also have comparative advantages with the rest of America), nanotechnologies and new materials.
The last few weeks have been full of important events, such as the Open Science Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean (Cilac); the seminar Social Innovation and ICTs, which took place at the Hotel Embajador on Monday 12, organised by the Chamber of the Digital Economy of Uruguay (CEDU) and the Faculty of Economics and Administration of the University of the Republic; and CUTI's proposal to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Danilo Astori, to generate a specific training programme for the sector within the framework of the National Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (Inefop), a project that involves allocating US$ 4 million for this specific purpose. For his part, the Deputy Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Antonio Prado, said in the framework of the Sixth Week of Green Standards, which took place in Montevideo, that "information technologies are an indispensable tool to move towards a progressive structural change that incorporates more knowledge in production, ensures social inclusion and combats the negative effects of climate change". Prado said that ICTs are an indispensable vector for the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda and invited to participate in the Second Meeting of the ECLAC Conference on Science, Innovation and ICTs, which took place on 12 and 13 September in San José, Costa Rica.
A very particular sector
At the end of August, the report El líder silencioso: la Informática en Uruguay (The Silent Leader: Computer Science in Uruguay), written by systems engineer Ana Asuaga, historian and teacher María Laura Bermúdez and communicator Ulises Travieso, was published on the website of the Faculty of Engineering and in La Diaria, which completes and updates the report published by the Uruguay XXI Institute in August 2014.
The report begins by stating that "Uruguay is the leading exporter in per capita terms of software and computer services in Latin America, and the third in absolute terms", and after listing the other performances mentioned above, it points out that "all these achievements are not the result of chance, but of the country's commitment and a continuous growth that is about to reach half a century".
He then presents the history of information technologies in Uruguay, pointing out that "between 1968 and 1969, the first university degree in computer science was created, which granted the title of 'university computer'. The Faculty of Engineering of the University of the Republic (Udelar) bought and installed the first computer, which was used mainly for teaching, although it was also used for the first processing of interest in the country, such as the national censuses of the time. It should be clarified that at that time they did not speak of 'computing', but of 'computation'". It continues with the creation of the university computer career [...] and the creation, in October 1986, of the Basic Sciences Development Programme (Pedeciba), "which in a way is the result of the work, towards the end of the dictatorship, of a group of scientists and professionals resident in the country, with the support of the Biology graduate Braulio Orejas Miranda". This was the result of an agreement signed by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Udelar with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which the 1995 budget law established as a permanent programme.
The work by Asuaga, Bermúdez and Travieso goes on to state that "the other side of academic production, the industrial side, represented by the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technologies (CUTI), allowed for very significant export figures to be reached".
It details the happy conjunction of the emergence of academic training in ICT areas with the support of Pedeciba, the creation of development centres in large companies and the generation of business leaders who had to overcome the narrowness of the local market by seeking external markets. We added an unthinkable factor: the dictatorship, which, by crushing and disseminating the academy, meant that many outstanding technicians - perhaps the most important example is the engineer Juan Grompone - had to cross over to the business world, which they promoted.
The paper notes that "this important industrial development of the country would not have taken place without the early and continuous dedication of the Academy to the development of computer science, which proved once again the words of Pedeciba's first director, Dr. Roberto Caldeyro Barcia: "Without basic science there is no innovation, no technology, no industry, and without industry, a country collapses".
On account of more
On 7 September, President Tabaré Vázquez officially inaugurated the First Open Science Forum of Latin America (Cilac), whose objective is to "promote dialogue between science, politics and citizenship in pursuit of better scenarios for the development of peoples". The President began by saying: "Allow me to underline the pioneering condition and the open nature and regional dimension of this forum, which I particularly value, since nothing is more contrary to science, from my humble point of view, than isolation and routine".
Vázquez referred, as an example, to the "revolutionary" changes brought about by the Ceibal Plan and the Ibirapitá Plan, an extension of the former, which advances the digital inclusion of the elderly by providing retirees and pensioners with lower incomes with a tablet.
He pointed out that the Ceibal Plan "is much more than giving a computer and free internet connection [...] it is a unique educational transformation, it is a profound change in teaching and learning", and that the Ibirapitá Plan offers the possibility of exercising the right to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to 484,000 older adults, 14% of our population, "so that growing old also means learning and exchange. This is also revolutionary.
"The programme is not just about handing out a tablet, but about older adults being able to communicate with friends and family, access information, carry out formalities and recreate. It is so that growing old is another stage of learning, activity and integration in life," he emphasised.
He pointed out that "the Ceibal Plan is a great step forward towards equal opportunities, starting from childhood, in access to information and knowledge, which are essential for integration into society", and added that it is "an irreversible and progressive revolution, because it takes place in nothing more and nothing less than in the human mind". He also indicated that "US$ 100 million have been earmarked to acquire the prototypes and the initial basic equipment for the plan" and US$ 15 million per year for the maintenance and continuity of the programme. He concluded by stating that at the end of the first stage of the plan, "301,143 schoolchildren and 12,879 teachers in Uruguay's 2,064 public primary schools had received their personal laptop computers, equipment purchased by the State through a tender at a unit price of US$ 188".
The director of Unesco's Regional Bureau for Science in Latin America and the Caribbean, Lidia Brito, said that the forum, which brought together 200 experts from various countries, opens up avenues for the region's development. Representatives of governments, companies and academic institutions from 15 countries participated in the three days of activities. The activities revolved around five thematic axes: Science Policy, Universities for Development, Cultivating Science and Citizenship, Science for the 2030 Agenda and Science for Business Innovation.
Brito stated that "CILAC seeks to become a platform to define common positions on a scientific agenda for sustainable development and to bring the voice of the region to the global arena of the World Science Forum, to be held in Jordan in 2017". The activity was attended by the Deputy Secretary of the Presidency, Juan Andrés Roballo, the Ministers Tabaré Aguerre, of Livestock, Carolina Cosse, of Industry, María Julia Muñoz, of Education and Culture, and Eneida de León, of Housing; the Mayor of Montevideo, Daniel Martínez, and the Rector of the University of the Republic, Roberto Markarian.
Inefop resources for training
The Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI) presented a proposal to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Danilo Astori, and the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Pablo Ferreri, to create a specific personnel training programme for the sector within the framework of the National Institute of Employment and Vocational Training (Inefop). The project involves allocating US$ 4 million for this specific purpose and was well received by the government representatives, according to the institution's website.
CUTI head Álvaro Lamé presented preliminary results of the CUTI Annual Survey 2015, which records the sector's performance.
"Last year, compared to 2015, we grew only 7%," Lamé said, and reported that "exports remained stable at US$ 277 million, while sales to the domestic market grew. The sector's turnover increased by 6.5% to US$ 1,068 million in 2015. It is made up of US$ 277 million in exports: US$ 211 million from local companies (-6.6% compared to 2014) and US$ 66 million from subsidiaries and partners. This is in addition to US$ 791 million in sales to the domestic market, which increased by 9% over the previous year. According to the survey, the United States continues to be the main market for exports, which are split in half between products and services. The Brazilian market, meanwhile, fell by 15%".
By its results and its intrinsic significance, the performance of the ICT sector is a model advance against the primarisation, foreignisation and inequality of our economy.
Source: Caras&Caretas
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