Webinar
The “sharing economy” is not a sector, but rather a new delivery model that will have an impact across all services. While typically services outsourcing previously required high-level outreach and negotiations to build a B2B relationship between companies, outsourcing of services can now be implemented nearly instantaneously and to individuals as well as businesses. The biggest successes in this space to date are among those early adopters who created the platforms on which resources and information are pooled and parceled out according to demand. These include, of course, notable market-makers Uber (in local transportation) and AirBnB (in housing rentals). Driving this trend is the push for operational efficiency and scalability, the rapid proliferation of mobile technology, and evolving labor practices. While new platforms spring up to implement the sharing model in seemingly every niche of the economy, perhaps the greatest new opportunities lie in partnerships, e.g., food delivery services that leverage the existing network of Uber transportation to fulfill deliveries. Understanding the role of sharing in the future economy is ‘key’ to ensuring value chain integration from initial software development to implementation in new locations. Moderator: Luiz Ros, Special Advisor for Innovation Digital Economy Initiative, Office of the Presidency, InterAmerican Development Bank Speakers: Shawn Sullivan, Public Policy lead for Central America and the Caribbean, AirBnB Inc. Ivo Côrrea, Policy Director for CA & Caribbean, Uber Technologies Inc. Webinar
The IDB has been a key partner in the development of the global services sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. On the one hand, IDB’s programs and partnerships that have supported the sector’s rapid growth in the region will be highlighted, with a focus on targeted human capital development initiatives known as ‘finishing schools’. On the other hand, the role of ConnectAmericas will be underlined as the first social network for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Americas, which includes a ‘Global Services’ networking community that promotes outsourcing and offshoring business opportunities and assesses trends and information for SMEs specialized in the ITO/BPO/KPO industry sectors in the region. Speaker and Moderator: Fabrizio Opertti, Division Chief, Trade and Investment Division, Inter-American Development Bank Speakers: “Finishing Schools” Business Case #1: Ximena Stawsky, Head of Andean Cluster & Demand Planning Latam, Merck Group Uruguay“Finishing Schools” Business Case #2: Manuel Gordo Juliá, CEO of Allied Global Guatemala Webinar
Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality technologies promise to harness today’s computing power to achieve scale, accuracy, and speed improvements at an exponential rate. There are efficiency and quality improvements to be made, but what are the trade-offs? On this panel, experts from cutting edge companies weigh in: What are the sectors in which these new technologies are currently being implemented and what are the challenges and opportunities that they are presenting? How can providers keep up with the computing advances (machine vision, speech recognition, natural language processing, machine learning) that may require substantial technology upgrades and replacements. How can we accelerate up-skilling of labor to keep up with rapid technology development? Evidently, as automated processes learn and adapt to change, so must Latin American and Caribbean service providers. Moderator: Vitaly Golomb, Investor & Global Startup Evangelist, HP Tech Ventures Speakers: Frank Casale, Founder & CEO, The Institute for Robotic Process Automation Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, Director of the Emerging Analytics Center, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Avinash Vashistha, Chairman and CEO of Tholons Inc. and Former Chairman and Country Managing Director- India of Accenture Services