The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector is one of the most dynamic sectors in Uruguay, employing some 30,000 people, with a low rate of informality, higher average income than the economy as a whole, a young population and a large female workforce.
The "Tripartite Dialogue on the Future of Work", which brought together representatives of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Uruguay, and delegates from the Uruguayan Chamber of the Digital Economy (CEDU) and the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI).
In this context, the representative of the Statistics Unit of the Ministry of Labour, Juan Pablo Martínez, highlighted that in Uruguay the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector "is one of the most dynamic and employs some 30,000 people".
He also noted that it has several favourable indicators "such as a low rate of informality and average incomes significantly higher than the economy as a whole".
Moreover, "it concentrates a relatively young population with a large female occupation, shows high productivity and is one of the most promising sectors for the development of the economy".
Digital economy leader
In turn, the president of the Chamber of the Digital Economy of Uruguay, Marcelo Montado, said that our country "is seen as a leader of the digital economy in the region thanks to the fact that in the last decade it has generated the necessary elements for its development".
He pointed to the telecommunications infrastructure, access to internet-connected devices, the implementation of the Ceibal Plan as a tool for technological inclusion, access to mobile internet, the construction of a world-renowned software industry, advances in e-government and the country's basic socio-educational level with practically zero illiteracy.
He added that the current scenario presents "outstanding" opportunities for workers in the sector.
"Increasingly, wealth generation is going to be based on knowledge and trained manpower," he said.
In that sense, he stated that "there will not be a disappearance of work at the hands of technology, but a decrease in the supply of work for unskilled tasks. To cope with this process and prepare for the future, the essential component is education.
Meanwhile, representing the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology, Aníbal Gonda, said that technological advances come to "improve the labour scenario, so while they may have an impact on manual labour, they will also increase the quality of work.
"We have been successful in Uruguay with the development of technology, for example with the traceability of meat, without affecting jobs, but rather improving them," he explained.
Source: The21 Network
Connect