Digital Hub: Panama stands out with technological transformation

Both private companies and the public sector are creating more and more opportunities for the country to open spaces among the world's large digital markets, but what are the challenges of this new reality?

"Interesting things are being done, many companies with international experience have come to Panama bringing good practices to implement them here. I would expect that in the next five years Panama would take a giant step in digital transformation," Jorge Rubia Antúnez, CEO and founder of Coderland, told La Estrella de Panamá.

The digital gap is closing more and more in Latin America, the technological acceleration caused by the pandemic makes the region a key area for innovation, with countries such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Colombia leading this transformation, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Panama is not far behind. There are efforts that have been made since 2020 by the private sector, institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Authority for the Attraction of Investments and the Promotion of Exports of Panama (ProPanama) and the National Authority for Government Innovation (AIG) for the advancement of the country's electronic development, positioning it as one of the most advanced in terms of cyber progress.

Looking to the same direction, on November 24, the Micro, Medium and Small Enterprise Authority (Ampyme) announced an alliance with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MICI), the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) and Mastercard to strengthen economic digitalization in the country.

This project will focus on the training of new technological skills for entrepreneurs, the digitalization of entrepreneurs as well as promoting the tourism development of the country through new technologies.

For this, entrepreneurs who participate in the program will have access to multiple incentives and tools for business formalization through digital development. At the same time, the ATP Sustainable Tourism Master Plan 2020-2025 will be used with the help of the tools provided by Mastercard.

Technology hub? Beijing, Barcelona, Berlin and Tel Aviv are all examples of technology-focused centers. Cities with great investment in the cyber development of large companies in the computer market as multinationals producing software and hardware as well as great economic growth and great attraction of talent.

This is because a technological hub is a place where the development and innovation of the digital sector is promoted through companies and society in general. 

In addition, it is a sector that gives the opportunity to local companies to improve their profits with the help of research and collaboration of companies dedicated to technology.

"I believe that Panama, in terms of digitalization, is quite advanced compared to the rest of Latin America countries. It can become a technological hub to work in areas such as the City of Knowledge, as many advanced foreign companies have been doing, and this is probably what positions Panama in a much better place than most countries of the region" explained the expert.

It is true that Panama has several advantages compared to most of Latin America: the isthmus has the seven most important fiber optic sections of the continent; Due to the geographical position of the country, Panama is a natural destination for the hosting of data for large companies and governments thanks to the legal framework that advocates data privacy and since 2019, Google declared Panama as the Latin American country with possibilities to become a technological hub.

Despite this reality, there are basic challenges related to socio-economic inequality and the quality of vocational training, which prevent the full use of an opportunity such as this. This national project is frustrated by physical and social shortfalls in human and infrastructural resources.

What are the challenges?

The main thing is to invest more in education. In Panama, there are few careers today that are focused on the type of demand that exists in the market, "said the CEO of Coderland as the biggest challenge of Panama in terms of digital transformation to become a hub.

JORGE RUBIA

CEO OF CODERLAND.

The country's only problem is that of the 35 universities currently operating in the country, only five offer bachelor's degrees related to systems engineering or software development.

According to Jorge Rubia, the modernization of the study programs is also necessary, in addition to the collaboration of organizations that can train talent more quickly so this could be able to fulfill the level lof demand for talent that the market needs. 

"Studying five or six years of engineering, for then begin to learn to program is a very long road. You can really do it in much less time in other types of institutions, there are already in Mexico and Colombia," he told this media.

Another of it’s great challenges in digitalization is in terms of its scope. According to the statements of the CEO of Coderland, who stays behind in terms of the digital transformation that is taking place in Panama and the rest of the region, is the public sector.

Despite significant progress due to the pandemic, there is still a lot of digital lag. 

Investment in the right infrastructure also plays an important role in the development that is wanted. It is necessary to update the technology with which Panama is handled. This is what different sectors of society must work on for a comprehensive technological change.

Digital Hub: Panama stands out with technological transformation
Source: La Estrella de Panamá - Noticias de Panamá y el mundo
Author: Adriana Berna 
'Hub' digital: Panamá se proyecta con la transformación tecnológica (laestrella.com.pa)