ICT's: a road that facilitates productivity

Both institutions in the public and private sectors in Latin America have increased the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), as part of their modernization processes. The inclusion of new technologies in the productive processes of the economy has become increasingly frequent and, as the trend advances, the competitiveness indicators will change favorably for the region with respect to industrialized countries. This is reflected in the study El  uso de las TIC para la simplificación de barreras administrativas a la  inversión. Casos exitosos en América Latina (The use of ICTs for the simplification of administrative barriers to investment. Successful cases in Latin America).                         

The promotion of information and communication technologies offers significant advantages to improve customer services that allow not only to reduce the number of steps and days to start a new business, but also to increase transparency and the trust of the system's users. 

Despite these advances, Latin America still faces great challenges with respect to the development and promotion of electronic government initiatives and simplification of processes. Small and medium-sized companies still show a low level of connectivity so it is a priority to promote investments to expand the supply of physical and technological infrastructure. 

The experiences that have opted for the use of new technologies highlight the importance of governmental leadership to promote these types of reforms and synergies, as well as having a joint working agenda between the academia and the public and private sectors. 

The success of these programs starts from the need to increase the levels of infrastructure investments for ICTs, which includes mobile technologies and internet use in schools and enterprises.