Geneva, Switzerland
The United States, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are in that order countries better prepared for new technologies and emerging countries, such as artificial intelligence (AI) or big data, according to an index presented by the United Nations on Thursday where Latin America, led by Brazil and Chile, occupies discreet positions, while Honduras and other American nations Central are in the queue for technological advances
The Brazilian is ranked 41st in a ranking of 158 economies developed by UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), where Chile ranks 49th, Mexico 57th, Costa Rica 61st, Argentina 65th and Panama 67th, being the best placed nations in Latin America.
At the bottom of the region are Nicaragua (ranked 125th in the global index), Honduras (ranked 122nd), Bolivia (ranked 116th) and El Salvador (ranked 106th), while Colombia is ranked 78th, Peru ranked 89th and Venezuela ranks 99th.
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In the first places, economies such as South Korea (seventh place), Germany (ninth), France (13th place), Japan (18th place) or Spain (21) stand out, while China and India, despite the leader in research and development, they are ranked 25th and 43rd, respectively, due to deficiencies in telecommunications.
The classification was made by measuring five variables: research and development in new technologies, the state of the local telecommunications industry, training for new sectors, financing facilities in them and the general development of these industries in the country.
The index is part of a report in which Unctad analyzed not only the future of AI and the management of large databases, but also sectors such as the Internet of Things, blockchain, 5G networks, 3D printing, robotics, drones, gene editing, nanotechnology and photovoltaic energy.
Unctad estimates that these sectors constituted a market of 350,000 million dollars in 2018, which by the middle of this decade could almost multiply by 10 to 3.2 trillion dollars, (of which 1.5 trillion on the Internet things and 500,000 million in robotics).
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The organization wants to emphasize in its study that new technologies increase the economic gap between developed and developing countries, as has happened since successive industrial revolutions that have periodically changed the foundations of the economy for 250 years.
“It is essential that developing countries do not lose the wave of state-of-the-art technologies, otherwise inequalities will deepen further,” said Unctad Secretary-General Isabelle Durant. good to narrow the gap.
The report also points out that, alongside the enormous opportunities in these nascent sectors, there are major challenges, such as the risk of automation taking over jobs on a large scale, while reducing labor rights.
The study highlights that governments play a critical role in paving the way for technologies, especially in creating a supportive environment and “ensuring that the benefits of these technologies are shared by all”.