It is the estimated demand for 2018 in a sector that has an employability rate of 98%.

According to the World Economic Forum, in the next five years, two million new jobs will be created in the world linked to robotics, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, drones and 3D printers. Colombia may be a leading actor.

A study developed by the Observatory IT, and organization that belong to the Mintic and the Colombian Federation of the Software Industry (Fedesoft), estimates that by 2018 the country will need 53,000 information technology (IT) professionals.

This is a great opportunity for young Colombians, as they will have the chance of linking to an industry with a 98% employability rate that also provides higher salaries than others.

For that reason, the Ministry and the ICETEX have been promoting education opportunities in these areas, basically under the initiative IT Talent, which has been working since 2012 and seeks to expand the number of students in the technology programs, reducing drop outs and increasing female participation.

 “Digital transformation is coming to every sector. Therefore, talent is needed, and we are training that talent. We have awarded scholarships to 9,270 people, but there is a large number of people we still have to help. The message is there is an opportunity with a great future here”, said the minister of Information and Communication Technologies, David Luna, who also assured that the dynamics of the digital economy also demands developing other kinds of positions, such as business intelligence analysts, data scientists, IT security engineers, security analysts, big data engineers, data modelling, IT auditors, among others.

In Colombia, according to Paola Restrepo, executive president of Fedesoft, there are over 200 schools that train technicians, technologists, and IT professionals, which shows the maturity of the sector. According to ICETEX, the areas that are demanding more professionals are systems and telecommunications engineering, computer engineering, and software engineering.

In the technological level, the areas are information systems, software development, computer systems development, mobile and web applications design, programing for mobile devices, applications development for mobile devices, among others.

In addition to the alliance with ICETEX, the Mintic, and the Fulbright program opened a call this year to finance master and PhD studies in the United States for up to ten professionals in Information Technologies, Computer Security, Robotics and Design of Policies in Technologies.