Govt Expects 100k Jobs in ICT Services Sector in 5yrs

The Dominican Republic's government expects the number of people working in communications technology (ICT) services to more than double to 100,000 over the next five years compared to around 45,000 today, the country's secretary of state Eddy Martínez told BNamericas.

According to Martínez, the Dominican Republic has the geographical advantage of being close to the US and in the path of undersea cables, which make the island a strategic location for international traffic.

For that reason, the government is looking for investors in telecoms and IT services such as call centers, software development and nearshore services.

With the free trade agreement the Dominican Republic signed with the US and Central America (DR-Cafta) that came into being on March 1 the nation's economy is expected to grow, fueling demand for additional telecoms infrastructure and services.

The government already has several projects underway to address connectivity needs, the biggest of which is its network access project (NAP) of the Caribbean, at an investment of around US$50mn, Martínez said.

The connectivity project will see much better network speeds in the country and a direct connection to Miami and Puerto Rico.

Currently the government's main role in ICT is promoting the Dominican Republic as a foreign investment hub, providing technology and language training and community centers to spread internet usage.

According to previous statements from the president of telecoms regulator Indotel, around 10% of the population has access to internet services.

The government has launched an aggressive rollout of telecenters throughout the entire country that provide internet services and training for the greater population.

"Indotel is opening up new centers every week," Martínez said.

The telecenters offer internet access for free, something that the government is able to maintain through a wide net of funding resources. For 2007 Martínez estimates that private and public spending for the campaign to offer internet services and training will reach US$200-300mn.

However, this spending is key in order for the country to get its workforce trained to a level where it can compete globally with telecoms services. In the end, the sector provides not just a source of jobs, Martínez said, but a job that comes with substantial training and skills the country needs to compete on a global level."

Posted to the site on 26th April 2007