The Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI) renewed its board of directors by 70% in an event marked by the recognition of the steps taken in order to turn the country into a technological hub in the region and in the world, and the commitment to continue the path in this direction. The commitment is focused on deepening education to generate and export talent, in addition to opening markets. “We are very close to saying that Uruguay it’s a technological country”, The new president of the institution expressed, Amilcar Perea.
Perea is the general manager of the company InSwitch and, until now, he had been serving as executive secretary of CUTI. In the period 2024-2026, he has the challenge of leading the institution as the new president. In that sense, he said that the management will have specific goals such as bringing more technology to the national industries, support inland companies to export more, and deepen the talent generation.
He also raised the need for further development technological products in the country to then sell their licenses To the exterior.
“We are very close to being able to say that we are a technological country, that our young people really end up choosing to study technological careers to live a fantastic future. Today we occupy 22,000 jobs with quality jobs, with salaries that far exceed the rest of the industries, but that potential is practically without ceiling, not made by us, but made by the main analysts of the country. So the challenges are in not letting the opportunity pass by,” said Perea during the event that took place at the Cowork of the UIH Innovation Campus.
The need to strengthen the education The importance of the sector was also present in his message: “We need them to learn to program from a young age, to learn English, to learn with computational thinking, to have the conditions to develop in this world. But, in addition, we need many more people who are currently with other options to be able to reconvert towards our industry and that the talent that comes from abroad finds in us a new way of working.” Uruguay the conditions to develop and choose to come and live in Uruguay to develop technologically,” he said in his inaugural address.
An industry that grows
The new president of the technology sector union reported that this industry represents 4.3% of the GDP of the country, being the fifth export industry, with foreign sales of about 1.8 billion dollars per year, of which 80% is destined for USA. The figures for the sector indicate that it generates 22,000 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs.
“That speaks to the quality. These markets are not achieved with products for price or simply by mass production. These markets are achieved by the quality of our people, by the quality of training, by the quality of our entrepreneurs, who are serious companies that comply. And that country brand that we have of Uruguay technological, serious, creative, but also compliant, which I think is our hallmark,” he told Ambit the new president of CUTI.
Perea replaces Carlos Acle, who will continue on the board; and Ana Maria Echavarren will accompany him in the Executive Secretariat.
The inauguration event of the new CUTI authorities was attended by the Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIM) Elisa Facio and the Vice Chancellor of the Republic, Nicolas Albertoni. The presidents of the Chambers of Industry were also present, Fernando Pache, and Commerce, Julio Cesar Lestido; as well as representatives of Uruguay XXI and of the Technological Laboratory of Uruguay (LATU)and businessmen in the sector.
Source: Ambito
