Medellín today is a world leader in innovation. We have taken unprecedented steps in the region and, consequently, the world looks towards these mountains that decorate a city which is beating with the new, the different, the transformation,
to the constant improvement of the quality of life of its inhabitants. A city that delivers value with disruptive and dynamic projects in favor of development and competitiveness.
The Latin American region needed to have a technological epicenter surrounded by an adequate ecosystem which was prepared to host the fifth Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR). This Center will join the others located in San Francisco, Tokyo, Beijing and Mumbai to lead the role and serve as a space for the design, testing and refinement of policy and regulatory frameworks for the new 4.0 technologies. In turn, this will positively impact all economic sectors, taking advantage of the potential of millions of people interconnected through mobile devices now having storage, processing and access to unlimited knowledge capacities.
Thus, the World Economic Forum chose Medellín for this important challenge of hosting the C4IR because it is recognized as one of the most innovative cities in Latin America, backed by a strong industrial, educational and entrepreneurial fabric that, thanks to the institutionality of the Committee University Enterprise Government (CUEE, for its acronym in Spanish), Ruta N and Sapiencia, has achieved the goal of transforming traditional economies into knowledge-based economies.
At present, the capital of Antioquia is home to 6 of the 10 Colombian companies with the highest market value and, in digital matters, more than 37 communities exclusively based on 4.0 technologies, coexist and cooperate in the city, such as Blockchain, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Smart Cities.
According to the IT Observatory 2017, up to that year the tech sector in Antioquia had generated 14,237 new jobs, 74% of them in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. Medellín has a tech sector made up of 2,013 companies, 48% of them software developers. These are notable figures as a result of public and private partnerships, aimed at the same goal: sustained and competitive development.
Likewise, the educational sector, as a catalyst for development and the main generator of human talent, has managed to consolidate, locally, with the presence of 37 of the 50 institutions of higher education in the department, four of them included in Latam’s top 100. Foreign companies located in the city recognize in Medellín a conducive environment in the search for qualified talent tailored at 4.0 technologies, a valued and well-paid benefit with high-quality jobs.
As an articulating entity, ACI Medellín will continue to focus its efforts towards the attraction of capital and national and foreign cooperation. The Agency will further serve as a bridge to accelerate company landing and market opening processes with the intention that these actors boost our economy. Additionally, they shall also find in Medellín a profitable environment, well trained and adapted to global trends in technologies eager for public policies, a city that will accompany and advise other cities of Colombia and neighboring countries, so that together we achieve a favorable implementation of the new industrial revolution that is already a reality.
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