“We are not Silicon Valley”: A Colombian digital entrepreneur responds to President Duque

Netflix has announced that it will soon open offices in Colombia, A news that President Ivan Duque repeated with a message regarding his government’s proposal to turn the country into Silicon Valley in Latin America.

“We celebrate the Netflix announcement of opening offices in Colombia, Confirmation of a new step to become Silicon Valley in Latin America. It also highlights the confidence of big companies in Colombian talent and the politics of the orange economy, ”the head of state wrote on his Twitter account.

Alexander TuringraHe, a Colombian businessman who runs several tech products such as TorrenegraLabs (one of the top eight immigrant startups in the United States, according to Fobres in 2012), VoiceBunny and Torre who won a TR35 award for Innovator of the Year, responded with criticism of the letter in a similar post. To the president’s post.

This isn’t the first time the president has equated the country, with 21% of homes without an internet connection according to Forbes, with the star city of major tech companies in the United States.

Since the presidential campaign with his promise of the “orange economy” and during the government, in several scenarios, the president has reiterated his intention to make the country the Silicon Valley of Latin America.

“The result we hope for is that Colombia is seen as a country of entrepreneurship opportunities in Latin America. Silicon Valley was in America because they put together a lot of the things that I just said and I have no doubt that with a government that believes in entrepreneurs, with institutions that work as a team, because there is no ego here, and here is the sum of the efforts, Colombia will become Silicon Valley. In Latin America, this will be a great unicorn country for technology and creative industries and in many other fields, “the president said two years ago when he opened the C Emprende Center.

However, For Torrenegra, who is also a member of Shark Tank Colombia, installing Netflix offices in the country is not a step in this fanciful purpose.

“We can say that we are Silicon Valley because Netflix opened offices in Colombia, to the same extent that we can say that if Tesla opens a dealership, we are pioneers in auto engineering in Latin America.Turingra quipped on Radio W.

for him, The broadcast giant is seeking to establish its presence in the country to target one of the main markets for its platform, but not to develop programs, It is the main feature of Silicon Valley companies, where Google, Apple, Facebook and the major technology brands are based in the United States.

Indeed, the businessman emphasized that the opposite happens in the national territory. According to him, companies like Facebook have agreements with internet and telecom service providers to use their platforms for free. A priority that Colombian companies do not have.

“The only way Colombia and Latin America can be globally competitive is by starting to stop selling what we produce under our feet (natural resources and agriculture) and start selling what we can produce with our minds. And technology, which is highlighted by Silicon Valley, is how you can start to do that, ”Thuringra told the station.

For the businessman, there is a long way to go with the goal announced by President Ivan Duque, which is, for example, to overcome the low levels of bilingualism in the country. However, there are some software developers in Colombia who work remotely with Silicon Valley companies who, in the future, could replicate this knowledge or set up companies in the national territory.

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