Chile leads technological competitiveness ranking in Latin AmericaPublished: September 29, 2009
According to the study released by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Chile stands out due to its favourable business environment - a category in which it is ranked sixth in the world, with 93 points.
In its third such report, the Economist Intelligence Unit assessed and compared the Information Technology (IT) industries of 66 countries. The competitiveness of their IT sectors was evaluated, with a maximum potential score of 100 points.
Chile achieved a score of 46.1 and was ranked 27th in the world, which represents an improvement of three places since the previous study. "We are pleased that Chile's competitiveness in the field of IT is improving, but there is still some way to go," said Rodrigo Bulnes, lawyer and representative in Chile for Business Software Alliance (BSA).
The Economist Intelligence Unit, compared the environment for the IT industry in various countries, measuring such factors as the country's commercial and legal contexts, human capital, support for the development of the industry, research and infrastructure. The last two areas were found to be the weakest throughout the study.
The member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an organization that Chile aspires to join, scored an average of 58 points.
The study showed that Chile stands out mainly for its favorable business environment, for which it is placed 6th in the world rankings, with 93 points.
The areas in which Chile has to improve are Research and Development, where it achieved only 20 points, and Infrastructure, in which it scored 26 points.
After Chile, other Latin American countries in the ranking included Brazil (40th), Argentina (41st), Mexico (48th) and Colombia (52nd).
The U.S. remained in first place worldwide, followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands.
Sources:
www.df.clwww.americaeconomia.com