Colombia’s Industry 4.0 popularity abroad is undeniable, not only reflected in the figures, but also in the recognition that this sector’s exporting companies have recently enjoyed. Along with agriculture, sales of services abroad led the way in 2019.

Between January and March 2020, exports in this sector reached US $160 million, with sales from 10 Colombian departments reaching 75 markets, according to company reports sent to ProColombia. In 2019, this figure totaled US $446.7 million.

In the first quarter of 2020, the United States, Uruguay, and Spain purchased the most Industry 4.0 services, while the leading exporting departments were Bogotá, Antioquia, and Atlántico. The leading subsectors for exports were IT software and services, BPO, health services, and audiovisual production.

“Industry 4.0’s popularity confirms the prime position that the sector’s companies hold at the international level, due to their quality, talent, creativity, and high standards of innovation. ProColombia will continue to support this sector, which is gaining more and more prominence in non-mining and non-energy exports and which also has great growth potential with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. By 2022, our goal is for Colombia to be among the top 20 countries who export services,” stated Flavia Santoro, ProColombia president.

Santoro added that the facts confirm the sector’s popularity: Colombia represents 13.4% of BPO sales in the region, making it third in Latin America; Colombia is positioned as the fourth largest IT market in the region after Brazil, Mexico, and Chile; and the Colombian video game market is the fourth largest in Latin America.

Exporters of Colombia’s Industry 4.0 services have also paved their own way by garnering recognition. Such is the case for PSL, an Antioquia software development company, who was named one of the hundred best companies worldwide by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP)—for the third consecutive year.

"Being on this list for the third consecutive year boosts our international exposure and credibility, given that it is a panel of experts—which includes large, well-renowned companies—that makes the selection," stated Alejandro Vásquez, PSL’s vice president of business development. Currently PSL is focused on expanding its exports throughout the United States, where they have already made a name for themselves in New York and San Francisco.

IAOP’s CEO Debi Hamill affirmed, “Buyers understand that there are hundreds of options for software development services out there, but what they must now understand is what makes each one exceptional. The Global Outsourcing list has done exactly that. We are proud to recognize PSL among this year's companies."

The Antioquia-based firm is currently developing projects in analytics, machine learning, and cloud applications, among other services. They are also developing applications for self-driving, such as more accurate maps, as well as programmatic advertising with a software for social media.

Furthermore, the Barranquilla firm Atlantic BPO received the Silver award for “Best Operation of an Outsourcing Company” in Latin America, granted by the Latin American Alliance of Customer Interaction Organization at the Latam Awards. A company spokesperson stated, "Our main objective this year is to continue to expand our services in the healthcare sector in the United States and Panama, as well as enter Central American countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua." Atlantic BPO currently serves Panama, Mexico, United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico in the telecommunications, health, public services, transportation, and retail sectors.

Similarly, Omnicon—a Cali-based company that focuses on software development and process automation, and which has received ProColombia support—was recognized by the United States Control Systems Integrators Association when Omnicon CEO Eduardo Acosta was granted the Charlie Bergman “Remember Me” Award.

Omnicon works with multinational companies with multiple plants worldwide and has carried out projects in over 500 plants in 65 countries outside of Colombia. Omnicon's main clients include Cargill, Tate & Lyle, Stepan, Unilever, Nestle, Dow, Uniphos, Chevron, and Johnson & Johnson, among others.

“Our goal—to reach US $70 million in exports in 5 years or less—is named the Omnicon MEGA (acronym for Large and Ambitious Strategic Goal, in Spanish). It emerged from a collaborative strategic process with ProColombia in the 3E program (Empresas de Excelencia Exportadora) and the Cali Chamber of Commerce’s Innovation program with the consulting firm 10X. Omnicon is confident in its team’s ability; despite the current difficult situation worldwide, we will reach our goal," stated Eduardo Acosta, Omnicon CEO.

Finally, the Pereira-based company Innovative Education—which developed a virtual laboratory software that is exported to 19 countries—was selected as Latin America’s best EdTech startup and went on to become a finalist in the Global EdTech Startups Awards (GESA) in London earlier this year.