Colombia is a country with features to invest in technology. Its population is the second largest Spanish-speaking region, besides having a time zone a few hours apart from San Francisco, Mexico City or Sao Paulo.
Colombia ranks fourth in BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) in Latin America, behind Brazil, Mexico, and Costa Rica. This sector has doubled its revenues and exports since 2005. According to data from Invest in Bogotá, $23b is the value of the industry in the country, with an average growth of 19% in the last seven years.
Several multinational technology solutions companies have found in Colombia a country with the potential to transform the market, especially in Bogota. The Colombian capital concentrates 81% of tech companies, with an estimated 1,500 foreign companies, in addition to an increase in local companies. Among the services commonly provided are contact center, back-office, IT support, financial, accounting, human resources, sales, purchasing, and logistics. According to estimates of the Chamber of Electronic Commerce, e-commerce reached 4 percent of GDP last year,
The South American country is a growing market. Colombia has the third largest labor force in the region and the second largest Spanish-speaking population. Bogota concentrates most of the human talent, with 84,000 engineering graduates related to the technology industry. Also, 74% of the country’s bilingual population is in this region.
Government support for entrepreneurs is a good sign for 2019, as well as its commitment to digital transformation. A report by MinTIC reveals that at least 82 percent of citizens and 79 percent of companies interact with government entities through digital channels.