DOT-COM Activity: LAC - Enhancing Smaller U.S. IT Company Involvement in LAC
DOT:dot-ORG
Country: Latin America and Caribbean Region
Funder(s):
Short Description: dot-ORG is working with NewMarket Technologies to identify and assist small U.S. IT companies to take advantage of market opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
Phase/Type of Activity: Pilot Status: Active
Start date: February 01, 2007 End Date: August 15, 2007
Partners:NewMarket Technology Inc.
Person(s) to contact
Contact
Michael Tetelman , Director, dot-ORG
Academy for Educational Development Email: Tel: (202) 884-8856
Full Description: U.S. multi-national IT companies are actively investing in the LAC region in a wide range of sectors and services. This level of investment may increase given the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). However, there is little evidence to indicate that smaller U.S. IT companies are actively working in the LAC region. These smaller companies face many obstacles working in LAC or other emerging markets. These challenges consist, for example, of a lack of information by these companies to appropriate business opportunities and skepticism (often warranted) about how emerging markets can assist these companies business growth given concerns about corruption, cultural / legal / linguistic differences, relatively high costs of business development, etc.
To enhance smaller U.S. IT companies involvement in the LAC region, dot-ORG is sponsoring a multi-faceted activity which focuses on:
Making companies aware of beneficial opportunities for business development: This includes identifying some specific market opportunities for smaller U.S. IT companies in specific regions of LAC, preferable underserved regions;
Screening rigorously for and selecting a small number of appropriate companies that can successfully meet the demands of emerging market settings: This includes designing a process to identify and screen candidate smaller U.S. IT companies to receive the results of this project. The pre-screen process will be developed to include a set of criteria that the candidate would need in order to have a high likelihood of success entering and overcoming issues in the LAC region; and
Assisting these smaller U.S. IT companies in understanding how to enter and operate in the LAC region to capitalize on these opportunities.
Core funding for the DOT-COM Alliance is provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture & Trade, Office of Infrastructure and Engineering (EGAT/OI&E), Office of Education (EGAT/ED), and Office of Women in Development (EGAT/WID), under the terms of Award numbers: GDG-A-00-01-00009-00, dot-GOV; GDG-A-00-01-00014-00, dot-ORG; GDG-A-00-01-00011-00, dot-EDU.
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