Information Technology in Peru

Government Policies

Peruvian IT development is primarily intended to improve existing Peruvian industries, rather than to create a new IT-focused sector. Thus, government policy is heavily biased toward encouraging IT development for the sake of helping industry, as shown by the Centers for Technical Innovation program.

IT Supplementing Industry

The policies of the Peruvian government with respect to information technology (IT) are focused on using IT to improve the efficiency and productivity of the existing sectors of Peru's industrial production, as opposed to creating a new IT sector. As such, IT policy is primarily dictated by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Integration and International Commercial Negotiations, or MITINCI. According to MITINCI, only between 8 and 10 percent of the national capacity of research and development is directed toward the industrial sector, whereas in more advanced countries the proportion is between 50 and 80 percent. MITINCI, along with the National Confederation of Private Business Industries (CONFIEP), the national Society of Industries, the National Assembly of Directors and the Bolivar Program (an international NGO which promotes technological, productive, financial and commercial integration among the Latin American nations, as well as the integration of these countries with other regions of the world), has created the Science and Technology Program for production. The program will work on two tracks: one for innovation and technological development of the productive sector (projects of innovation and technological transference, and investment in infrastructure and services), and one to support to scientific and technological support of universities and nonprofit institutions (projects of research and development, creation of technological infrastructure, qualification, development of IS and diffusion of science and technology).

Centers of Technological Innovation

Toward the goal of using IT to promote other Peruvian industries, the government has recently passed a law initiating a set of public-private partnerships in various sectors. These Centers of Technological Innovation are intended to strengthen their sector through the implementation of more research and development, particularly in the IT field. Highlights of the law and its associated regulations are listed below.

Law 27267, May 25, 2000 - The Law of the Centers of Technological Innovation

• Establishes guidelines for the creation, development and management of Centers of Technological Innovation (CITEs) - with the purpose of promoting industrial development and technological innovation
• Definition of CITE - Public or private organizations that intend to promote the innovation, quality and productivity, as well as to provide information for the competitive development of different stages of production

Regulations of Law 27267

• Functions of CITEs
• To create an image of quality of Peruvian products for export as well as for domestic consumption
• To channel transfers of national and foreign technology towards productive industries
• To develop the research applied to specific industries
• To spread technological information and market systems
• To initiate technical and other monitoring that allow the nationally productive sectors to conform to the global changes that affect their position in the market
• To favor vertical and horizontal integration between companies
• To contribute to the accomplishment, continuity and diffusion of national and international technical accomplishments of each industry
• To promote the processing of technical norms related to the respective industries, to collaborate in their preparation and to support their diffusion and application
• Services include
• Attention to technology needs of companies
• Tests, analysis, certification and adherence to technical standards, norms, etc.
• Processing and distribution of documentation and technical information for companies
• Specialized, accessible, up-to-date information systems
• Communication with related Peruvian or international centers to facilitate monitoring and exchanges of ideas and knowledge
• The Board of Directors for each CITE will be made up of a representative from the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Integration and International Commercial Negotiations (who will serve as Chair), a representative from the Commission for the Promotion of Exports, and two representatives from the respective industry.
• CITEs will also have an executive director selected by the Board and a Consulting Council made up of officials from related public and private institutions.

In the 1990s, the Fujimori government began a massive privatization drive. Information on the effects of this push can be found in liberalization and privatization.