For the past six years, Uruguay has been the Latin American leader in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Development Index, according to the UN International Telecommunications Union report. Moreover, in 2015, it ranked 49 on a global scale, moving three positions up the ranking compared to the previous publication and recording improvements in all considered dimensions.
The latest data indicate that the ICT industry in Uruguay has a turnover of USD 1 billion a year. Of this amount, nearly USD 300 million come from exports to more than 25 countries. The Americas, with the United States and Brazil at the head, has so far been the main export destination of companies operating locally. However, Uruguayan software has gained the close attention of Europe, and in recent years there has been an increase in business activities with the European continent.
Uruguayan companies render services with a high added value and have specialized in providing solutions, often custom-made, for industries such as banking, tourism, education, health, logistics, payment systems and security, among others. The quality of their services has enabled them to stand out internationally and become strategic partners with clients abroad.
This outstanding performance of Uruguay, a country with a population of just 3.3 million, is based on, among other factors, the existence of highly skilled human capital. The development of top professional capacities in the field is due to academic aspects (Uruguay was the first country in Latin America to implement the Computer Systems Engineering undergraduate course) and actions undertaken by companies that, because of the limited size of the domestic market, decided to venture abroad at an early stage and focus on generating competitive solutions at an international level. Consequently, Uruguay was a pioneer in Latin America of the internalization of its ICT sector.
Furthermore, the country has an ideal infrastructure for technology sector development. In this regard, it benefits from a country-wide fibre optic network with the highest speeds in the region, a high penetration rate of LTE networks and a recently inaugurated powerful data centre. In addition, in 2017 the construction of a submarine cable connecting Uruguay to the global Internet backbone in Miami will be completed.
The implementation of the "Plan Ceibal", local version of the "One laptop per child" project that since 2007 has provided a laptop to every school-aged child, has been another empowering accomplishment. This initiative, later expanded to encompass secondary school students, significantly reduced the digital divide and democratized the access to technology.
With the knowledge acquired, Uruguayan high school students have participated and delivered an outstanding performance in international competitions organized by leading institutions and companies such as NASA and Google. Therefore, Uruguayans are optimistic about the fact that its ICT industry will continue to excel at a global level.