Information and communication technologies and their impact on competitiveness in Latin America

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges facing countries today is how to make their economies and industries competitive in the face of significant international rivalry and a globalized environment. Countries are making considerable efforts to boost the factors that make them more com-petitive, not least of these being the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), a determining factor in global industrial trends. Unfortunately however some countries have lagged behind in terms of ICT implementation, with the Latin American region being a specific example. This article seeks to identify whether there are significant differences between Latin American countries and their main trading partners with respect to ICT adoption, and also with respect to the Global Competitiveness Index (2019) produced by the World Economic Forum. The findings refer to the fact that there is a significant difference in how clusters of various Latin American countries are underpinning competitiveness through ICTs when compared to their main partners.