The list of benefits of being part of the countries that are developing or implementing new
technologies that allow not only an advance at a scientific level but also as a society is extensive.
We are talking about changes in social dynamics such as access to information, specialization of
knowledge, advances in security, mobility and employment issues, and dynamization of trade and
industry, etc.
5G an indispensable factor for the development of the country
The increase in data use is overwhelming, as reported by Estatista, one of the most important
providers of market data and consumer information, we will reach an estimated 181 Zetta Bytes
by 2025 at global level. This 40% annual growth is driven by the development of the Internet of
Things or IoT, streaming multimedia and social network use, among others.
This is why factors such as latency and availability take important relevance in the need for
information in real time, and when the need to implement 5G becomes evident. These "roads"
will allow Colombia to make its way to the development of smart, efficient and sustainable cities.
Employment and foreign investment thanks to 5G.
According to ECLAC, this already on-going revolution, will generate profound transformations in the labor market. Governments, as ECLAC indicates, must bet on specialized training of the workforce and in the case of Colombia, through the Mintic (Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications) which has closed agreements with giants as Amazon, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle to train more than 10,000 young people and adults in topics such as programming on
AWS platforms, Azure, Java, Python among others.
Currently, there is a global shortage of this talent. A shortage which has already been warned by the leaders of large brands such as Mercado Libre and Amazon.
This new generation of jobs – more specific, but also flexible in terms of ways of working – will also make it possible to close gender, ethnic or regional gaps.
Undoubtedly one of the great socioeconomic debts in Colombia today. As one would expect, this transition takes time, it needs investment; and the country already has a track record in the "seduction of capital". In recent years, several companies have established in the country, precisely because of the business climate offered to companies that want to set up their operation in Colombia.
Vezt, mobile application, which uses blockchain technology; Mediapro, specialized in multimedia content generation; iXerv, an American data anagement company; RD Station, a Brazilian company focused on the development of mobile solutions and inbound marketing, are some of the companies that have set roots in Bogotá in the last three years, on account of benefits received.
Edge Data center, the infrastructure base for the development of 5G
Technology giants such as Meta, Google or Amazon have a clear dominance, as they have large
Hyper scale data centers wherever they establish their operation. However, with an ever-
increasing demand for data, they find the need to expand their businesses, and as they conquer
new and more distant territories, having interconnection nodes that allow for information to be
closer and readily available to the end user becomes necessary. For example, driving an
autonomous vehicle requires a large capacity for data transmission, processing and response in
order to have real-time information, enabling the car to know the route, identify obstacles,
recognize traffic alerts and everything that requires compliance with the established route.
These edge or "on-premises" data centers are key to shortening data transmission times. Fractions
of a second added up for each movement ultimately represent greater efficiency for a company,
especially those with large processing networks.
Connection stability and latency are other great advantages of the Edge Data Center, as they
minimize the risk in regard to an action not materializing or failing. A strengthened "cloud" will
serve, among other things, to improve the user experience or the worker interacting in the data
network.
Which segments benefit from this type of Data Center in Colombia?
The digital transformation process covers a large number of sectors, they may have a high or low direct impact, but in general everyone benefits from an edge computing model. To better understand, let´s take a look at the banking sector: every second when making a payment, a query or an international transaction, it is absolutely important for the system, in its complexity, to work
in a synchronized and agile way so that the operation or transaction is reflected in real time.
Security, for example in the banking sector or in fintech, is another factor to consider when having edge computing. In this sector, we find data protection regulations such as Law 1266 of 2008, which, in one of its sections, requires banks (given the sensitive and private information they have in their possession) to guard user provided data, under the highest security standards to prevent "adulteration, loss, consultation or unauthorized use" this type of data center has several levels of
virtual and physical security rings.
Another sector which may also benefit from the implementation of data analysis is the government, since this implementation of smart cities, make it possible to efficiently control aspects such as security and traffic, among others.
Companies in the Streaming or Social Network business are some of those that show a greater impact when implementing edge computing, since information "traveled sections" for processing and response are lower; it is also worth mentioning that this industry is one of the largest data traffic generators.
Cloud and telecommunications providers also benefit from the implementation of edge data centers as they require high levels of information availability, as well as redundant control and processes to ensure connectivity and energy efficiency for mission-critical operation.
Edge Data Center in Colombia, what makes it unique?
A number of companies that provide these storage and processing services have already been
established around the world and in the region. However, the great advantage in Colombia lies in
its geographical location: right on the equator, in the North of South America, and with access to
two oceans, allows for a privileged connection with the main submarine network cables of the
continent.
In addition to this, data centers that are in mild-cold temperature zones, for instance, those
located in the Free Trade Zone of Bogotá, have efficient cooling systems using cooling technologies
such as free cooling, added to a high energy availability and efficiency. In fact, Colombia is
positioning itself as a benchmark at regional level, and this is thanks to relevant actors in this
sector such as Grupo ZFB which has developed approximately 40% of the country's data centers,
allowing it to acquire great knowledge in the development of flexible and scalable world-class
infrastructure projects, adaptable to the business requirements of main telecommunications,
cloud, streaming, IoT and Data analytics companies.