Features Of The Bogota Software Cluster

In “The Bogota Software Cluster”, (2009), the paper analyzes Colombia's endowment, macroeconomic competitiveness in-deep into look at the Bogota software cluster. The main feature of Colombia's software industry is that it is mainly composed of micro-enterprises, focusing on the local market, and its export performance is very weak. More than 93% of Colombia's 6,524 software companies are micro-enterprises, with a reported asset base of less than $55,000. As of 2009, the industry is estimated to have generated $1.2 billion in revenue, with a compound annual growth rate of operating income estimated at 7% and a slightly higher than the compound annual growth rate of 11%. However, the export base is extremely low, less than 5% of income.

The software cluster in Bogota is concentrated on 81% of Colombian software revenue. As happened at the national level, microenterprises are a common feature of the Bogota software cluster. Of the 2,852 companies registered in Bogotá, 84% are micro-enterprises. The weakness of these fragmented small companies is that 81% of micro-enterprises account for only 6% of total software revenue. There are only 17 software companies in Bogota that are big companies, and they account for the vast majority of revenue. The Bogota Software Cluster consists of three types of companies:

1. Companies that build applications for companies, people, and entertainment;
2. Companies that generate custom software for users, and finally companies that provide complementary services to IT.

Based on an analysis that takes into account national and international trends and potential future needs, we identified three market segments that could be the point of difference for the Bogota cluster:

1. Spanish mobile app.
2. Industries with unique challenges for developing countries, such as financial services solutions operated through mobile networks, utility management software based on old infrastructure, security and surveillance systems.
3. Supplementary services in the business process outsourcing industry, such as back-end support, database and customer service management.In short, Bogotá must provide a coherent and complementary set of conditions to promote the development of an active software cluster, especially for high-growth start-ups.

These elements are Collaboration, Business model and management skills, Venture capital and seed funds, Entrepreneur culture, Strong local demand and competition and University provides training and research and development. Today, only entrepreneurial culture can be a positive factor in the business environment of Bogotá. Once this self-reinforcing cycle begins, the software cluster will begin to gain momentum and exceed everyone's expectations, as primaries across the country will choose to open stores in Bogota because of the positive business environment.