Digital transformation, the key to economic revival in Latin America

The digital transformation is key to the economic reactivation of Latin America, as well as to making the region much more competitive, said the executive director of Telefónica Hispam, Alfonso Gómez, on Thursday.

"2020 has been a year of challenges at a global level and has shown us that Latin America has the tools in its digital transformation to lead its economic recovery and promote synergies between countries that will allow us to become a more competitive region," said Gómez during the 'Movistar Empresas Hispam Digital Forum, 'the driving force behind economic recovery'.

Businesspeople from nine countries took part in the meeting, where they spoke with experts from the digital ecosystem about their views and experiences of the transformation processes that companies are undergoing as a result of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also present were the Director General of Bid Invest, Gema Sacristán, the Head of the Latin America and Caribbean Unit of the OECD Development Centre, Sebastián Nieto and the Director General of Free Market Chile, Alan Meyer.

The experts are from the sectors of public administration, education, banking, retail markets, mining and oil and gas, among others.

Telefónica Hispam also carried out a survey on "the level of digital adoption in organisations in the region" and one of the results was that 90 percent of the companies surveyed had already developed the use of online channels and that teleworking is a reality that will continue to grow due to its benefits.

"Now more than 50% of employees can do their jobs remotely, with the necessary resources provided by companies," the company said in a statement.

Similarly, Telefónica showed its vision of "breaking down the barriers to the digitalisation of companies and society in general, by means of a major public-private agreement: a Digital Pact that allows for a fairer and more sustainable path, closing the gaps of social inequality".

The idea is to invest in education and digital skills, as well as to offer "inclusive connectivity" to accelerate "access to the digital world by reviewing the regulatory and fiscal frameworks", added Telefónica Hispam.