At Andicom 2017, Cartagena Welcomes All the Major Players of the Digital Ecosystem

From August 23-25, Cartagena de Indias will once again become the epicenter of Colombia’s information and communication technologies (ICT) industry, with the start of the ICT International Congress ANDICOM 2017, an event that year after year is designed and organized by CINTEL (ICT Research and Development Center).

The academic agenda of the ANDICOM 2017 Congress will be addressed in three thematic axes: productive ecosystem, the core of transformation; digital technologies that boost business innovation; and an economy that requires transformation. Each follows this year’s theme: “Reinventing Your Business – Transformation Is Now.”

In order to address each of these topics from a broad range of angles, Andicom will feature a host of internationally recognized speakers, including:

• Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, who will give the closing remarks of the ANDICOM 2017 Congress
• David Luna, Colombia’s minister of information technologies and communications
• David Rogers, global strategist in digital transformation and author of the bestseller “The Digital Transformation Playbook,” a book that deals with how to rethink any traditional business for the digital era
• Marina Díaz Ibarra, marketing and e-commerce strategist, startup impact project promoter, former general manager of Mercado Libre.com for Latin America, who will be on the first day of the congress, where consumers as drivers for the digital transformation, will be the focus

In addition to many speakers, day one of Andicom will feature CINTEL presenting the study “Knowing the Digital Consumer in Colombia” conducted by Mario Castaño, technical director of CINTEL. The prestigious Business Digital Transformation Awards will also be given out — for the first time this year — as part of a joint initiative between CINTEL and the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

In all, the opening day of ANDICOM 2017 will include presentations by:

• Manuel Martínez Niño, executive director of CINTEL
• David Luna, Colombia’s minister of information technologies and communications
• Bruno Ramos, regional director of the ITU regional office for the Americas
• Oscar León, executive secretary of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the OAS
• Masahiko Tominaga, deputy minister of political coordination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan
• César Augusto Ocampo, director of Colciencias

The second day of ANDICOM 2017 will focus on digital technologies that boost business innovation. The speakers discussing these topics will include:

• Bitange Ndemo, leader of the ICT revolution in Kenya and manager of the Silicon Savannah, technology-based for the digital transformation of the African country
• Mitch Lowe, CEO of MoviePass, a global content industry disruptor, and Netflix co-founder

Here it is important to emphasize that, in order to support the process of digital transformation of the different productive sectors and the country, it is necessary to strengthen the IT sector and telecommunications that respond to the demands of the current changes.

It is for this reason that ANDICOM will analyze all the many different aspects that directly impact the ICT industry: digital security, efficiently managing the cloud, Big Data and analytics, and emerging technologies that renew sectors, among others.

To close ANDICOM 2017, on day three, the congress will analyze the dynamics that have been generated around the growth of the digital economy and the mobilization of trends that are transforming the economy. This will look at the case of blockchain, the economy of trust, the “orange” or creative economy, and the “on demand” economy.

These trends require a greater commitment on the part of the productive sectors and countries leading digital transformation to take advantage of the opportunities that the fourth industrial revolution brings.

The speakers of this day will include:

• John Howkins, world leader in creativity, innovation and intellectual property to support the creative economy, and author of the book “The Creative Economy”
• Terry Jones, a revolutionary innovator of culture in a business environment and founder of Travelocity.com and Kayak
• Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who will give the closing remarks of the ANDICOM 2017 Congress

By experiencing these interesting lectures and interacting with the main economic actors of the country — and much, much more — attendees will realize the need to rethink and re-imagine their business.

The transformation is now, and all aspects of this digital future will be front and center at ANDICOM 2017 in Cartagena from August 23-25.