Institutional

About the IT Observatory

The "IT Observatory for the analysis and monitoring of indicators towards the continuous improvement of the competitiveness of the IT industry in Uruguay" is a project of the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (Cuti) that counts for its development with the support of the National Development Agency (ANDE) through its Sectoral Public Goods Program for Competitiveness (Call 2019).

The main purpose of this tool is to contribute to the improvement of the productivity of the information technology (IT) sector by generating knowledge that allows addressing its limits and underpinning its development opportunities in the country.

In this sense, the IT Observatory works to know the causes of the challenges, and to carry out diagnostics that allow identifying weaknesses to work on their improvement, and strengths, to enhance them, thus reducing transaction costs, improving the competitive conditions of the sector and the business environment, and promoting the international insertion of the industry.

The specific objectives of the IT Observatory are: 1) the generation of and access to information, 2) the review of international standards and best practices in IT, and 3) the positioning of the IT industry abroad.

Vision

The task of research and dissemination of knowledge entrusted to the IT Observatory is subject to some guiding, general, orienting and non-exhaustive principles, which will be transversal to the multiple tasks involved in the elaboration of its studies within the different types of expected products. Among these principles for its action, the following stand out:

- The constant search for rigor and adherence to the rules of the scientific method for the implementation of the successive stages of each research project, especially during the application of quantitative or qualitative data collection techniques.

- In all cases, the bet is to generate consultative instances with the companies of the sector in Uruguay, for a joint definition of which topics should be prioritized in the research. In this definition of priorities, the guidelines contained in Cuti's Strategic Plan towards 2030 and the series of topics put on the agenda by the organization in its interaction with government authorities, public institutions, media and other stakeholders will be taken into account.

- In the same sense, the prioritization of those studies capable not only of generating valuable inputs for decision making by companies in the sector and to positively influence the design of public policies in the field of ICT, but also capable of informing the public debate and the general population about the particularities of the challenges and opportunities offered by this sector in the country, as well as the value it is capable of creating for the economy and the Uruguayan society.

- Maximize efforts for the generation of collaborative networks with academic actors, experts, and professionals at the national, regional and international level, allowing synergies for the joint study of topics of common interest. This collaborative logic aims to ensure that the highest quality research results emerge from interdisciplinary exchange, and tends to generate, in all cases where relevant and feasible, products that take into account the comparative perspective, and allow the Uruguayan case to be placed in the regional and international context.