The agreement seeks to promote cooperation on innovation through educational and training programs, support for the development of cloud-based businesses – especially start-ups and service exporters – and collaboration in the modernization of government.      

The Chilean government signed a collaboration agreement today with US-based Amazon to promote cooperation on innovation through educational and training programs, support for the development of cloud-based businesses – especially start-ups and service exporters – and collaboration in modernization of management of the state.

The agreement was signed by Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdés and Jeffrey Kratz, Head of Latin America, Canada and the Caribbean, Public Sector, at Amazon Web Services, in a ceremony which took place at the Finance Ministry. The event was also attended by US Ambassador to Chile Carol Pérez; Undersecretary for Finance Alejandro Micco; the executive vice-president of the government’s Economic Development Agency (CORFO), Eduardo Bitrán; and the director of the investment promotion agency, InvestChile, Carlos Álvarez, as well as other public and private figures from the world of technology such as the president of the Chilean Association of Information Technology Companies (ACTI), Raúl Ciudad; the president of the Association of Chilean Software and Service Companies (CHILETEC), Alvaro Portugal; and representatives of the Ministry of the Presidency (SEGPRES), the Chilean-North American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the Santiago Chamber of Commerce and CORFO’s Intelligent Industries program.

The collaboration agreement, which does not envisage the transfer of public resources or exclude work with other companies or the use of different services, is based around the following pillars:

• Development of capabilities for working in the cloud. A range of educational, training and certification programs will be developed to accelerate learning related to the cloud and its associated workforce.
• Support for companies that want to base their businesses in the cloud. The agreement envisages the launch of a personalized program of services and support for Chilean companies that want to accelerate their businesses’ adoption of the cloud, thereby making them more competitive. Special emphasis will be placed on start-ups and service exporters.
• Digital government. Support will be provided to the government for its process of modernization, sharing best practices on matters such as open data, security and public procurement.

The agreement was signed with the government in a broad sense so as to begin work on specific projects with the related sectors. In particular, it is hoped to include the Education and Labor Ministries as regards training, the Economy Ministry in the area of business development and SEGPRES, together with the Finance Ministry’s Modernization of the State Program, in the case of digital government.