Colombia. The Communications Regulation Commission took on the challenge of preparing to promote the Digital Economy in Colombia, with the construction of the roadmap in which all the country's economic sectors are invited to work hand in hand to promote innovation, competitiveness and national economic development, under the leadership and accompaniment of the ICT Ministry. This project makes Colombia a pioneer country in Latin America in terms of Digital Economy.
The purpose of the roadmap is to build a regulatory framework that encourages the development of new business models and that "traditional" businesses are able to make the most of the inclusion of ICT as part of their own model.
The CRC's vision around the digital economy includes the elaboration of a regulatory guide that will be socialized with various sectors of the economy and that constitutes a tool that will allow regulators and policy generators in other sectors to face the challenges and analyze the regulatory alternatives that emerge with the appearance of new business models supported by digital platforms of the collaborative economy such as Uber and Airbnb.
"The roadmap was designed with regulation in mind that regulation cannot become an artificial barrier to the development of new businesses and technologies. We seek to move away from the traditional framework of regulation and rethink the way in which different tools are used to achieve the final objectives of promoting competition and investment, and obtain the greatest benefit for the country": explained Germán Darío Arias Pimienta, Executive Director of the CRC.
To develop this roadmap, the CRC studied the competitive dynamics of the digital economy, as well as analyzed the regulatory strategies adopted in the United States, England, Australia, Singapore and Chile, and the sectoral case studies of media, transport, financial, logistics, postal and industrial.
As a starting point in this path of preparation, the CRC focused on identifying the challenges of the Digital Economy for its development in the country, among which are:
1. Vision and Articulation of the State in the Digital Economy.
2. Coordination between interested parties.
3. Criteria for the classification of services for the digital economy.
4. Guidelines for whether or not to act regulatorily in dynamic markets.
5. Rules for marketing personal data of the digital consumer.
6. Establishment of criteria to predict the preponderant role of data in new markets.
7. Criteria for net neutrality and management to support the development of new businesses
8. Mechanisms for the promotion and monitoring of new leading technologies
Based on the Colombian reality, case studies, identification of challenges and examples of good practices, the roadmap proposes specific actions and projects that must be addressed in the next 5 years.
This proposal seeks to articulate the regulatory bodies of all sectors of the country, taking into account that it is not only the responsibility of the ICT sector and that coordination at the highest level is required in order to harmonize public policies and regulation.
"For the first time we have drawn a horizon, this roadmap is only the first step, now we must work together to achieve from the multisectoral articulation the digital transformation and growth of the country." Germán Darío Arias concluded.
