Abstract

 
 
 In the last decade, Costa Rica has established a reputation for being a global provider of information and communication technology (ICT) products and services. Several important multinational companies have begun outsourcing operations in the country. In addition, a growing number of local firms have been created to provide ICT products and services worldwide. As a consequence, the country is experiencing a shortage of ICT qualified workers.
 To understand the ICT human resource situation and improve the country’s capacity in computer education, a supply and demand study was conducted from 2007 to 2009. This paper presents the results of this study and its implications for the educational system. In addition, policy recommendations for computer education are proposed in order to support the country ́s competiveness in the global ICT market and advances related to these recommendations are discussed.
 
 
Highlights
Costa Rica has become a global provider of information and communication technology (ICT) products and services
The demand and supply study found that there is a notable change in the ICT occupational profile in Costa Rica, from software development in 2000 to technical support in 2007
This situation is the result of the establishment of subsidiaries of multinational corporations (MNC) in the country, those operating technical support contact centers
Summary
Costa Rica has become a global provider of information and communication technology (ICT) products and services. Based on previous studies (Mata and Jofré [6], Mata et al [7,8,9,10] and Araya et al [11,12,13]), eight ICT occupations were considered on the demand side of the study: 1) Software Engineers,1 2) Application Programmers, 3) Project Managers, 4) Technical Support Specialists, 5) End-User Technical Supporters,2 6) Specialists in Quality Assurance, 7) Specialists in Software Testing, and 8) Specialists in Marketing and Sales of Software Services and Products These occupations are focused on software development and technical support. This work presents a summary of the results of the supply and demand study conducted and discusses policy recommendations based on these results to improve computer education and support Costa Ricas competitiveness in the global ICT market..
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