National Technology Associations
Costa Rica
While
a relatively small and low-gross domestic product per capita country, Costa Rica
has a strong enough IT infrastructure to rank it at 49 out of 102 countries in
the Networked Readiness Index in the Global Information Technology Report
2003-2004, making it the leading Central American country in the index.[i]
However, unlike many other countries that have government prioritization of IT
policy that somewhat matches the ranking level of the country, Costa Rica’s
growth is not driven by government’s ICT prioritization, rather, it is driven
by the private sector.[ii]
A complete analysis of Costa
Rica’s economy and ICT is found on the Kogod School of Business INITEB
course website. (Please note that research is from 2002 and facts may be
outdated.)
Founded
in 1998 by 16 Costa Rican software companies the Caprosoft
(Chamber of Producers of Software of Costa Rica) was formed in 1998. The
mission of this organization is to integrate the national software production
companies in a strategic block that allows them to develop innovative
technological products of high quality that can be sold globally. Recognizing
the need to serve all IT businesses, the association launched a parent
organization, CAMTIC (Costa Rican
Chamber of Technologies of Information and Communications), in 2004[iii]
CAMTIC
has grown to be the representative national association of all IT industry
companies. The mission of CAMTIC is to align the diverse businesses in the
information technologies and communications sector to encourage and sustain
competitive development at the international level and to make socio economic
progress in Costa Rica. The CAMTIC website is posted only in Spanish rather than
offering English translations, however, the Caprosoft offers limited
translations on the website. Not participating in the global IT economy in
English means CAMTIC cannot fully serve its members.
CAMTIC
is setting national IT policy to fill gaps left by the government. Known as
“Green and Smart,” the main goals of the policy are to articulate
the accomplishments of the diverse stakeholders, to
optimize the use of resources (financial, human,
technological), and to generate the necessary components in the country
to build a “sustainable habitat” for the growth of the ICT sector of Costa
Rica. The Costa Rican government has set some important policies in place such
as a reduction in computer taxes, investment in computer labs in schools and the
funding of the infrastructure for IT, including the MAYA-1 project connecting
Costa Rica to the U.S. via a high speed optical submarine cable.[iv]
The CAMTIC policy builds on the social investments that have already been made in the country such as the high literacy rate, access to health care, higher quality schools and the increase in English as a second language proficiency. The abolishment of the military is considered one of the primary reasons the government has been able to make such investments in human capital. The low percentage of brain drain, ranking only 9 out of 102 countries in the Networked Readiness Index in the Global Information Technology Report 2003-2004 is a major indicator of the impact these investments have made in encouraging citizens to remain in the country for their professional IT careers.[v]
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[i] Dutta, Soumitra, et al. The Global Information Technology Report. 2003-2004. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 130.
[ii] Dutta, Soumitra, et al. The Global Information Technology Report. 2003-2004. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 268.
[v] Dutta, Soumitra, et al. The Global Information Technology Report. 2003-2004. Oxford University Press, New York, 2004, p. 231.