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The American University, 1993 Copyright ©1993 by Hernandez, Diego Alberto. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor. MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with with permission permission of the of copyright the copyright owner. owner.Further reproductionFurther reproduction prohibited without prohibited permission. without permission. A REVIEW OF THE INFORMATICS SECTOR IN URUGUAY by Diego A. Hernandez submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Information Systems Signatures of Committee: le College Date 1993 The American University 7o3^ Washington, D.C. 20016 (HE AiffiBICAH UNIVERSITY LI3R4BY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ©COPYRIGHT by DIEGO A. HERNANDEZ 1993 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A REVIEW OF THE INFORMATICS SECTOR IN URUGUAY by Diego A. Hernandez ABSTRACT Informatics in developing countries has seen an increase in importance and influence as the world’s economies become more interdependent. The personal computer has brought information technology (IT) within the range of small users (i.e., in small or poor developing countries.) Modem telecommunications have, in turn, shortened the distance separating the developed from the developing world. Studies on IT use in developing countries are not common. The experiences and lessons learned from Uruguay’s informatics sector can be a valuable resource for other developing countries. This study looks at IT developments in the public and private sector. It also looks specifically at the education and telecommunications sectors as well as the local electronics industry. The impact of the legal framework is also presented. The main source of information were interviews and a questionnaire especially developed for this work. n Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................... ii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 1 Foreword Sources of Information Background on Uruguay 2. THE PUBLIC SECTO R..................................................................................................... 6 Background National Information Policy URUCIB - An EIS for the President IT Use in Other Government Sites Questionnaire Results 3. THE PRIVATE SECTO R............................................................................................... 19 Background Genexus - A Uruguayan CASE Tool AT&G Informatica - A Local Software Company URUDATA - A Reseller of PCs and Accessories Questionnaire Results 4. THE EDUCATION SECTOR ....................................................................................... 26 University Level Primary and Secondary Levels 5. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................... 31 6. THE LOCAL ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY .................................................................. 34 7. THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR ................................................................ 37 8. CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................... 40 Appendix 1. QUESTIONNAIRE (SPANISH) ..................................................................................... 43 2. QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH)..................................................................................... 47 3. COMPARATIVE FACTS AND FIGURES FROM SELECTED COUNTRIES 51 4. 1993 STUDY PLAN AT THE UNTVERSIDAD CATOLICA DEL URUGUAY . 52 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5. OVERALL SCHEMATIC VIEW OF URUCIB............................................................. 53 6. GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES AND AGENCIES SURVEYED BY CO N A D I 54 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 55 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Foreword The informatics sector in Uruguay has been of interest to me for some time. Having learned about informatics in the United States, both at school and at work, I was naturally intrigued by how the country in which I was bom and lived until I was 22, was coping with the introduction of information technology (IT). Informatics1 in developing countries has seen an increase in importance and influence as the world’s economies become more interdependent. As IT has evolved, prices for software and hardware have declined thus making it accessible to more people. The personal computer (PC) has brought IT within the range of small users (i.e., in small or poor developing countries, for example). The economically efficient size of telecommunications networks has also declined, although not as much as for computers.[16] Modem telecommunications networks have in turn shortened the distance separating the developed from the developing world. The globalization of trade has opened the doors for developing nations to be able to leap-frog into today’s technology almost as soon as it becomes available in the developing world. Studies on IT use in the developed world are common; they are less common for the 1 What is informatics? Information technology (IT), used interchangeably with the term informatics, is defined here broadly to include the supply side (computer hardware and software, telecommunications equipment and electronic-based industries) as well as the demand or user side (informatics applications in all economic sectors, information services industry, electronic publishing, broadcasting,management information systems, and so on.)[5] 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 developing world. This is why a look at the informatics sector in Uruguay is relevant and not only as a curiosity. The experiences and lessons learned from Uruguay’s informatics sector can be a valuable resource for other developing countries. Sources of Information In order to collect information on the current state of the informatics sector in Uruguay, I conducted several interviews, during May 1993. Some of the individuals interviewed included: a. the Head of the Informatics Department in the Office of the Presidency of the Republic; b. the Informatics Manager for the Administration National de Telefonos (ANTEL), which is the state agency holding the monopoly on telephone services; c. an IT advisor at the Comision National de Informatica (CONADI), who advises the President on national informatics policy; d. the managing directors of two of the largest software and hardware vendors in the local market; e. two computer science teachers from two private schools; f. the managing director of one of the largest local insurance companies. From these interviews I was able to get a general picture of what the public and private sectors are doing in informatics. I was also able to obtain other contacts for further information. As a result of these interviews I developed a questionnaire(see Appendices 1 and 2) to gather more specific and