The event saw participation of more than 1,250 companies and 180 speakers across 80 academic sessions on the agenda. The directors of CINTEL, the organizing body of ANDICOM, say that businesses transacted during the days of the congress exceed $60 million USD.

ANDICOM 2022 will be held in Cartagena de Indias from August 31 to September 2.

“The networking at ANDICOM is constant: the search for business opportunities, the identification of commercial allies, the knowledge of new projects in the public and private sector, the identification of new job opportunities, the technological update, opportunities for new ventures, enrich each once again our highest meeting of the ICT industry in Colombia and in the region,“ said Manuel Martínez Niño, Executive Director of CINTEL.

The opening keynote was given by Colombia’s President, Iván Duque, who emphasized sustainability to face the climate crisis. “We want Colombia to project itself as the world leader in sustainability, which allows it to be the second most biodiverse country in the world and to have a transforming force towards the fourth industrial revolution that every day positions us as the Silicon Valley of Latin America,” said President Duque.

Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Carmen Ligia Valderrama Rojas

During the closing of ANDICOM, the new Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Carmen Ligia Valderrama Rojas, presented her ministry’s ICT sector roadmap, again highlighting the importance of sustainability. Valderrama announced that the Duque administration will be issuing a decree increasing the caps for wireless spectrum below 3 GHz and will define a new category for spectrum in bands between 3 GHz and 6 GHz to enable the allocation of the 3 GHz band, which currently has about 400 MHz available for 5G.

According to her official biography, Valderrama Rojas has a law degree and a specialization in Business Law from Universidad Externado de Colombia, she also holds a master’s degree in Business Law from the Garrigues & Andersen European Center for Training and Business Studies in Madrid, Spain.

Valderrama Rojas has served as transportation superintendent, head of the legal office, general secretary and advisor to the superintendent. She has also held the positions of delegated superintendent for industrial property, consumer protection and superintendent in charge of Industry and Commerce.

The new minister has experience in academia, researching and teaching at her own alma mater Universidad Externado de Colombia. She has been an advisor to the Expert Group on Competition and Consumer Protection of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

At the time of her appointment as minister of information and communications technologies, Valderrama Rojas was serving as deputy minister of transportation.

President Duque has mentioned that one of Valderrama Rojas’ stronger mandates will be to advance towards the goal of training 100,000 computer programmers, connect more than 70% of the country’s population with high-speed internet and expand the digital economy.