Monthly Archives: April 2011

Spanish internet business incubator partners with Neos, arrives in Santiago

Published: Thursday, April 7, 2011 14:59 (GMT -0400)

By Business News Americas staff reporters

Spanish internet business incubator Digital Assets Deployment (DaD) is entering the Latin American market through its arrival in Santiago and partnership with Chilean company Neos, according to a press release from DaD.

DaD is looking to bring its business model to Latin America, picking Chile as the location of its regional operations center. The firm develops global seed capital networks for online companies.

The Spanish company’s president, Rodolfo Carpintier, said DaD’s partnership with Neos will provide it with knowledge and experience from different regional markets.

According to Neos USA’s director, Allan Jarry, the partnership will give Neos support in developing innovation and entrepreneurship in Chile and Latin America, with access to seed capital and experience with high risk projects.

DaD has completed its global expansion plans with its landing in Chile. In addition to Santiago, the company has presence in Madrid, Shanghai, Moscow and New York.

source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/technology/spanish-internet-business-incubator-partners-with-neos-arrives-in-santiago

IN BRIEF LAN airlines taps Mxi for maintenance software – Chile

 

Published: Friday, April 8, 2011 15:57 (GMT -0400)

By Business News Americas staff reporters

Chile’s largest airline, LAN, has tapped aviation maintenance management software provider Mxi Technologies to deploy its Maintenix solution throughout the company, according to a release from the latter.

Mxi will migrate LAN from its VISaer legacy system and some 20 other internal subsystems, with Maintenix software serving as the sole source for maintenance information across the organization, integrating with LAN’s ERP backbone and its SPEC-2000 purchasing, shipping and flight operations systems.

The price tag of the solution was not reported.

source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/technology/lan-airlines-taps-mxi-for-maintenance-software

Acti woos universities to drive entrepreneurship program

Published: Thursday, April 14, 2011 17:42 (GMT-0400)

By Maria Collao / Business News Americas

Universities will be the main partners in Chilean IT association Acti’s effort to help turn entrepreneurs’ innovative ideas into prototypes, Acti’s entrepreneurship and innovation manager, Marcos Rivas, said during the launch of the 2011 entrepreneurship program EmprendeTic.

“We must ensure, encourage and promote these prototypes to bridge the breach between the entrepreneurs and [potential] investors,” he said. Under the program, the idea is to select the best ICT proposals, which Acti will then aid in creating a business plan, coaching and obtaining seed capital. Acti has partnered with Chilean universities and state development agency Corfo to do so.

According to Rivas, Acti’s main role is to become a portal for entrepreneurs by generating a flow of projects using incubators at the beginning, and continuing to support those projects through the prototype and company formation phases until they can even become members of Chile IT – the global services platform of Acti.

“At the university level, we need to promote an adequate environment for entrepreneurial students, so they are willing to take the risk – like Bill Gates did at the beginning – and have the capacity of analyzing the industry they want to be in. But most important of all, to have the capacity of dialogue with other areas to assure the diversity needed in creating new projects,” said Francisco Rosende, dean of economy and administration at Universidad Católica de Chile.

One such project that has developed from a previous EmprendeTic program is a new software program for the retail market called OptimEyes, which was created locally and sponsored by Corfo’s innovation program Innova Chile. The solution employs input from hardware such as cameras, movement sensors and POS and RFID systems to feed in to a BI platform, which in turn helps retailers to plan the distribution and location of products within the store while also planning commercial campaigns.

Acti plans to develop 300 new projects this year, especially in regions outside of capital Santiago.

source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/technology/acti-woos-universities-to-drive-entrepreneurship-program

Claro commits US$2bn for 4-year fiber optic infrastructure project

 

Published: Thursday, April 14, 2011 14:06 (GMT-0400)

By Business News Americas staff reporters

Latin American telecoms giant América Móvil (NYSE: AMX), through its Chilean unit Claro, has committed to invest US$2bn in expanding its network over the next four years in the country, the company said in a statement.

The announcement followed a visit of top executives to the country this week who met with telecoms regulator Subtel head Jorge Atton and transport and telecommunications minister Pedro Pablo Errázuriz.

The investment includes linking up more than 450km of land and submarine fiber optic infrastructure in the southern Magallanes region, including Tierra del Fuego in the southern tip of the continent.

The infrastructure will permit high-speed mobile data traffic using LTE technology.

Claro previously announced an investment of US$500mn for 2011 in Chile.

Source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/telecommunications/claro-commits-us2bn-for-4-year-fiber-optic-infrastructure-project

Roundup: Chile-IT, Micro Focus, Microsoft, Cisco

Chilean IT industry promotion initiative Chile-IT has tapped Carlos Fernández as CEO and Chad Walter as Northeast ICT business development manager, Chile-IT said in a statement.

Fernández has more than 25 years of ICT experience, and most recently served as CEO of Chilean IT group Coasin’s global services division.

Walter has more than 10 years of IT consulting and outsourcing experience. Prior to joining Chile-IT, he served as president and COO at US firm D&D Consulting, which specializes in infrastructure, systems, applications and lifestyle management.

***

UK software developer Micro Focus has hired Chris Livesey as vice president of sales for its AMQ software business in EMEA and Latin America, Micro Focus said in a statement.

Livesey has spent more than 17 years in the IT and software industry, and previously held senior positions in IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) northern European business.

Within Latin America, Micro Focus has offices in Mexico.

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Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) has named Brazilian ICT solution provider LanLink as a gold partner, the software giant said in a statement.

LanLink currently has the largest team of Microsoft-trained professionals in Brazil’s north and northeastern regions.

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The Brazilian division of Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) has disclosed plans to expand its training and certification networks, the company said in a statement.

Partner companies PromonLogicalis, Multirede and Fast Lane will give courses aimed at forming networking and systems engineers.

source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/technology/roundup-chile-it-micro-focus-microsoft-cisco

New ICT study to emphasize technology’s impact on economic growth

Chile’s new biannual ICT study will differ from similar investigations because of its emphasis on gauging technology’s impact on overall economic growth, the president of local IT industry association Acti, Raul Ciudad, told BNamericas.

The research “will not only look at how much [technology] is being purchased, but also how it influences the different segments where the purchases are made,” he said. “This is an integral measurement of development.”

The study – which will be carried out by Acti in conjunction with international tech consultancy IDC; Chilean telecoms operator Movistar, part of the Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) group; and Chile’s economy ministry – analyzes ICT adoption in the residential, corporate, and government and education segments, according to a presentation by IDC’s senior analyst in Chile, Lorena Vega.

Focus areas in the residential segment include PCs, mobile phones, broadband and cable TV, while ICT expenditures in hardware, software and services, and mobility will be placed under the microscope in the corporate segment, she said.

Finally, the study will hone its government and education sector analysis on e-government activities, overall government ICT expenditures, state education program Enlaces and both internet connectivity levels and student-to-computer ratios in schools.

Information will be compiled from sources such as IDC and government agency records. The first results will be available in March, with a second round on tap for October, Vega said.

The analyst noted that the organizations responsible for the study will consider repeating their work internationally, thus allowing for comparisons between Chile and other countries.

Speaking on behalf of the government, economy ministry undersecretary Tomas Flores said the study will also complement related measures, such as new legislation that streamlines the creation of new companies.

Other ICT evaluations carried out on a regular basis in Chile include Spanish consultancy everis’ ICT index Information Society Indicator (ISI) and Cisco’s (Nasdaq: CSCO) broadband barometer.

source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/technology/new-ict-study-to-emphasize-technologys-impact-on-economic-growth

No new ICT bills on the horizon, govt tech chief says

Chile’s government will not introduce any new ICT-related bills in the short term, but will rather dedicate efforts to advancing proposals already in congress, the national head of digital strategy, Alfredo Barriga, told BNamericas.

“In the short term, in accordance with the digital agenda that exists right now, we are not considering additional laws that have to do with technology,” he said.

Barriga said the executive branch will place special emphasis on gaining approval of its telecommuting bill by year’s end.

“We are discussing this topic in congress, and we’re providing examples of similar legislation from other countries,” he said. “We’re also providing real statistics on the people [in Chile] that already telecommute.”

Based on initial conversations with legislators, there appears to be support from both majority and opposition party members, Barriga added.

CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud computing is a topic that continues to garner significant interest among government decision-makers, Barriga said.

“It’s an area that we are going to emphasize,” he said. “The first step that we will take this year is to put together an internal cloud computing environment within the state. Afterward, we want to reach agreements on services that could include some cloud computing modalities, such as infrastructure as a service and platform as a service.”

Still, Barriga acknowledged legal restrictions on cloud computing use.

“Perhaps we won’t use the complete cloud computing offering because of data protection issues and some administrative limitations regarding the storage of certain types of information that have to remain in government agencies.”

OBAMA VISIT

The Chilean government is putting the finishing touches on preparations for US President Barack Obama’s visit, which will take place March 21-22.

Local press reports have tipped science and technology as one of the topics that will be discussed with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera during Obama’s two-day stay, but Barriga was unable to validate these reports.

“Both [leaders] are people that believe in the contribution that science and technology have in country development,” he said. “At least in that sense they will be able to share opinions about what is happening there and what is happening here.”

source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/technology/no-new-ict-bills-on-the-horizon-govt-tech-chief-says

Chile tops Information Society Indicator in Q4

During the fourth quarter of 2010, Chile topped the rankings of the ICT index Information Society Indicator (ISI) compiled by Spanish consultancy everis and Spain’s IESE business school.

The ISI index measures IT adoption on a quarterly basis in major Latin American markets, including Chile, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. Leading the indicator with 6.15 points, Chile saw 4.5% year-on-year growth. It was followed by Argentina with 5.03 points, Peru with 4.82, Mexico with 4.68, Brazil with 4.66 and Colombia with 4.55.

This was the fifth consecutive quarter that Chile has seen ISI growth, and the study predicts that although expansion in 2011 will be less accelerated, the country will still lead the ISI in the region.

According to the findings, Chile’s growth was driven mainly by the country’s good economic prospects, general stability projected for the year and the information society environment (ESI) factor, the performance of which was aided by the Chilean middle-class’s increased consumption, social mobility and purchasing power.

In specific areas considered by the index, Chile saw its highest annual increase in online retail sales, reaching US$152 annually per person – up 45.8% and three times that of the regional average. Chile also maintained regional leadership in computers and servers, posting 421 computers for every 1,000 people in the country and 6.6 servers for every 1,000.

Behind Argentina, Chile continued to have the second highest mobile telephony penetration in Latin America with 1,065 devices for every 1,000 people, up 13.3% from last year. By December 2011, Chile will have 1,159 cell phones per 1,000 people, according to the index.

Although social networking use grew less in Chile than other countries, it still led in terms of penetration, with 464 people for every 1,000 using this technology.

During Q4, the study found that Chile registered a per capita ICT expenditure of US$516, above the US$378 regional average, but still leaving room to grow compared with the US$3,242 figure in the US.

According to everis general manager Patricia García, the increase in the ISI has not occurred only in Chile, but rather in all of Latin America, as the index has reached historic highs during the last five quarters. Showing recovery from the economic crisis, Latin America saw its ISI reach 4.73 points in 4Q10, posting 3% year-on-year growth.

García said the region’s main area for improvement is reducing the ICT access gap that persists in Latin America.

source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/technology/chile-tops-information-society-indicator-in-q4

Chile tops Latin America in Nokia Siemens’ connectivity scorecard

 

Chile received the best rating in Latin America in Nokia Siemens Networks’ (NSN) Connectivity Scorecard 2010 ranking, according to results released by the company.

NSN’s study aimed to measure the useful application of ICT technologies, as well as to indicate the degree to which consumers, companies and governments make proper use of these technologies to contribute to national development.

Of 25 emerging market countries, Chile maintained its third place ranking from the year before, scoring 6.06 points, but down from the 6.59 points it obtained in the 2009 ratings. Ahead of Chile was Malaysia with 7.14 points and South Africa with 6.18 points.

According to NSN, Chile has one of the most mature telecoms markets in the region and was the first in Latin America in terms of implementing new technologies. NSN said Chile maintained its third-place position because it possesses one of the most advanced telecom infrastructures in South America.

However, the study showed that business usage and skills in ICT were deficient, especially when taking into account the country’s solid infrastructure. Business expenditures for hardware and software, as well as levels of international communications traffic, are also relatively low.

Other Latin American countries in study’s ranking were Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. With five total countries from the region, the most recent ranking is a shift from the 2008 study, when only Brazil and Mexico appeared.

All five were in the top 10. Argentina followed Chile at fourth with 5.90 points, Brazil was in sixth with 5.32, Mexico in eighth with a score of 5.00 and Colombia in ninth place, with a score of 4.76. Russia and Turkey also made the top 10, in fifth and seventh place, respectively.

source:http://member.bnamericas.com/news/telecommunications/chile-tops-latin-america-in-nokia-siemens-connectivity-scorecard