On my recent trip to South America during Global Entrepreneurship Week, I cast a mournful eye over Uruguay where, were it not for problems with flight schedules I had hoped to visit. Uruguay, the South American nation nestled between Brazil and Argentina, is trying to take the fast track toward becoming a startup economy.
The government of Uruguay has long recognized the importance of entrepreneurs to its small economy. It began programs to promote entrepreneurship in the early 1990s and has matched those with technological literacy programs. In 2009, Uruguay became the first country in the world to provide every child (and their teachers) a free laptop through the One Laptop per Child Program, managed by the government-owned, privately-run Uruguayan National Technology Laboratory (LATU). Due to the country’s advanced telecommunication infrastructure, primary school students from anywhere in the country are able to access the Internet, which opens the doors to knowledge gathering, networking and idea sharing for potential entrepreneurs. Today, Uruguay has the highest internet, broadband and PC penetration in Latin America.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Uruguays Entrepreneurship Fasttracking - Entrepreneurship.org
Author: Jonathan Ortmans is president of the Public Forum Institute, a non-partisan organization dedicated to fostering dialogue on important policy issues. In this capacity, he leads the Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship, focused on public policies to promote entrepreneurship in the U.S. and around the world. In addition, he serves as a senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation.
