The main barrier is not ambition but education.
En una ciudad donde la demanda de talento tecnológico supera con creces la oferta disponible, Bogotá ha tendido un puente entre la ambición de sus habitantes y las exigencias de una economía digital en aceleración. A través de una alianza con IBM, diez mil residentes podrán formarse gratuitamente en inteligencia artificial, ciberseguridad y computación en la nube, en un país que enfrenta un déficit de setenta mil profesionales tecnológicos. La iniciativa no es solo una respuesta a una crisis laboral: es una apuesta por redefinir quién tiene derecho a participar en la economía del futuro.
- Colombia enfrenta una escasez de 70.000 profesionales tecnológicos, y Bogotá —donde se concentra el 60% de las empresas que los buscan— siente el peso de esa crisis con mayor intensidad.
- La brecha no es de voluntad sino de acceso: miles de bogotanos quieren entrar al sector tech, pero los sistemas educativos tradicionales no les están enseñando lo que el mercado realmente necesita.
- IBM SkillsBuild abre 10.000 cupos gratuitos en IA, ciberseguridad, computación en la nube, ciencia de datos e IoT, priorizando a jóvenes y mujeres que históricamente han encontrado mayores barreras de entrada.
- En paralelo, 600 pequeñas y medianas empresas recibirán formación en innovación, y las 150 más destacadas accederán a vouchers de hasta 23,5 millones de pesos para desarrollar prototipos y conectarse con mercados.
- La ciudad apuesta a transformar su base económica desde dos frentes simultáneos: formar trabajadores y fortalecer empresas, aunque diez mil cupos frente a un déficit de setenta mil siguen siendo una promesa incompleta.
El gobierno de Bogotá firmó un acuerdo con IBM para ofrecer diez mil cupos gratuitos de formación en tecnologías emergentes, una respuesta directa a la creciente distancia entre lo que el mercado laboral exige y lo que los trabajadores pueden ofrecer. Los cursos, impartidos a través de la plataforma IBM SkillsBuild, cubren inteligencia artificial, ciberseguridad, computación en la nube, ciencia de datos e Internet de las Cosas, y están abiertos a cualquier persona mayor de 18 años sin experiencia previa en el sector.
La urgencia del momento es clara: la federación colombiana de software y TI reportó a comienzos de 2022 un déficit de setenta mil profesionales tecnológicos en el país. Bogotá concentra el 60% de las empresas que buscan ese talento, convirtiéndola en el epicentro de una crisis que amenaza el crecimiento económico de la capital. Para el secretario de Desarrollo Económico, Alfredo Bateman, el obstáculo principal no es la falta de ambición de los ciudadanos, sino la ausencia de una formación alineada con lo que los empleadores realmente necesitan.
El programa apunta especialmente a jóvenes y mujeres, poblaciones que históricamente han enfrentado mayores barreras para ingresar al mundo tecnológico. Las inscripciones se abrieron de inmediato y corrieron hasta el 1 de junio de 2022 a través del portal bogotatrabaja.gov.co. IBM, por su parte, enmarcó la iniciativa dentro de su compromiso global de formar a treinta millones de personas en habilidades tecnológicas antes de 2030.
La ciudad también lanzó un programa paralelo dirigido a empresas: seiscientas pymes bogotanas de sectores como moda, biotecnología, turismo y economía circular recibirán veinte horas de formación en ciencia, tecnología e innovación. Las ciento cincuenta con mejor desempeño obtendrán vouchers de innovación de hasta 23,5 millones de pesos para financiar el desarrollo de prototipos y su conexión con mercados.
Juntos, ambos programas representan una apuesta por transformar la economía bogotana desde sus cimientos: formar a las personas y fortalecer a las empresas al mismo tiempo. Si diez mil nuevos trabajadores capacitados serán suficientes para mover la aguja en un déficit de setenta mil, aún está por verse. Pero la escala del esfuerzo revela con qué seriedad la ciudad está tomando el problema.
Bogotá's city government has partnered with IBM to open ten thousand free training seats in emerging technologies, a move designed to address a widening gap between what the job market demands and what workers can actually do. The agreement, signed through the city's economic development office, will offer instruction in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing, data science, and Internet of Things—fields where Colombia's tech sector is starving for talent.
The timing is urgent. Colombia's software and IT industry federation reported in early 2022 that the country faced a shortage of seventy thousand technology professionals. Bogotá alone concentrates sixty percent of the companies actively seeking this kind of specialized labor, making the capital ground zero for a skills crisis that threatens to slow the city's economic growth. Alfredo Bateman, the city's secretary of economic development, framed the problem plainly: the main barrier keeping people out of tech jobs is not ambition but education. The city's schools and training programs simply are not teaching what employers actually need—quality assurance, software development, mathematics, computer science. The gap is real and measurable.
The training will happen through IBM SkillsBuild, a free platform designed to teach information technology fundamentals and cross-industry skills to people with no prior background in tech. Courses run from basic to intermediate levels, and the program is open to anyone eighteen or older. Registration opened immediately and ran through June 1, 2022, with applicants signing up through the city's dedicated jobs portal, bogotatrabaja.gov.co. The city is explicitly targeting young people and women, populations that have historically faced steeper barriers to entering the tech workforce.
Patricio Espinosa, IBM's regional general manager for Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and the Caribbean, positioned the initiative within a larger corporate commitment. IBM has pledged to train thirty million people globally in information technology skills by 2030, with particular focus on communities with limited economic resources. Bogotá's ten thousand seats represent a significant piece of that ambition, and the company framed the partnership as a way to give workers a competitive edge in a labor market that is only accelerating its demand for technical skills.
The city also announced a parallel program aimed at companies rather than individuals. Six hundred small and medium-sized enterprises in Bogotá—from fashion and biotech to creative industries, furniture, tourism, and circular economy sectors—would receive twenty hours of training in science, technology, and innovation from expert instructors. The strongest performers among them, the top one hundred fifty companies, would receive innovation vouchers worth up to twenty-three and a half million pesos to fund prototype development, testing, and market connections. The requirements were straightforward: companies had to be legally registered for at least a year, have current commercial registration, be actively operating with sales, and not be in liquidation. Applications opened through the city's economic development website.
Together, these two programs—one aimed at individual workers, one at companies—represent an attempt to reshape Bogotá's economic foundation from the ground up. The city is betting that by flooding the market with newly trained tech workers and giving companies the tools to innovate, it can close the gap between what employers need and what the labor force can supply. Whether ten thousand trained workers will be enough to move the needle on a seventy thousand person deficit remains to be seen, but the scale of the effort signals how seriously the city is taking the problem.
Citas Notables
The sector TI in Bogotá is requiring different technical competencies that are rarely offered by the city's educational programs—quality, computer science, mathematics, software development.— Alfredo Bateman, Bogotá's secretary of economic development
IBM is committed to supporting innovation and empowering young people and adults to have a competitive advantage in today's and tomorrow's labor market.— Patricio Espinosa, IBM's regional general manager
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did Bogotá decide to do this now, in 2022 specifically?
Colombia's tech industry federation had just published data showing a seventy thousand person shortage. Bogotá, where most of the tech companies are based, felt the pressure acutely. The city realized it couldn't wait for traditional education to catch up.
Ten thousand spots sounds like a lot, but it's only a fraction of the seventy thousand shortage.
True. But the city was being realistic about what it could launch quickly. Ten thousand trained workers is a start. The real hope is that once people see the pathway into tech work, demand for training grows, and other programs follow.
Why partner with IBM specifically?
IBM already had SkillsBuild, a proven platform for teaching tech fundamentals to people with no background. The city didn't have to build the curriculum from scratch. And IBM's global commitment to train thirty million people by 2030 meant they had resources and expertise to invest.
Who actually benefits most from this—individuals or companies?
Both, but in different ways. Workers get free training and a pathway to better-paying jobs. Companies get access to a larger pool of qualified candidates. The city benefits because employed people pay taxes and spend money locally.
What about people who don't have internet or time to take a course?
That's the gap the program doesn't solve. You had to be eighteen, able to register online, and have time to complete the training. It's accessible compared to traditional education, but it's not universal.
Does this actually guarantee jobs?
No. The training opens doors, but it doesn't promise employment. That depends on whether companies hire the graduates, and whether the graduates can actually perform the work. The city is betting the training is good enough to make that happen.