Bonum Certa Men Certa

Cablegate: “42 Percent of Argentine Firms Use Linux on at Least Some of Their Computers”

Cablegate



Summary: In a cable marked "sensitive", US diplomats look at the digital state which Argentina is in

TECHRIGHTS covered Argentina several times over the years. Argentina, being a south American nation, has been quite GNU/Linux-friendly. Here are some posts that may be relevant to today's Cablegate cable on "BRIDGING ARGENTINA'S DIGITAL DIVIDE":





According to the following cable (€¶11), "Linux is popular in Argentina due to its low cost, and 42 percent of Argentine firms use Linux on at least some of their computers." Here is the cable in full:








ZCZCXRO9151 RR RUEHRG DE RUEHBU #0748/01 0901858 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 311858Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4016 INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 5452 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 5254 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0887 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 4068 RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 5453 RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 5058 RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE 0428 RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0137 RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 1940 RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 2842 RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC RHEBAAA/USDOE WASHDC RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BUENOS AIRES 000748 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD AND J5 FOR JUAN RENTA USDOC FOR 4322/MAC/OLAC/BASTIAN/PEACHER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON [Economic Conditions], EIND [Industry and Manufacturing], AR [Argentina] SUBJECT: BRIDGING ARGENTINA'S DIGITAL DIVIDE €¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for Internet distribution. ------- Summary ------- €¶2. (U) Argentina's IT industry is the third largest in Latin America. Argentina's IT industry enjoys many advantages and is growing quickly. IT companies expect continued rapid growth and are investing heavily in Argentina. There has been a boom in the number of small U.S. hardware and software companies in Argentina in the past two years. The growth in Argentina's IT industry has left many Argentines behind. The GOA has instituted a number of projects with mixed results to combat this digital divide. Private companies are also sponsoring programs to bridge the digital divide, and strong competition in both the hardware and software sectors is driving prices down. The private sector will likely prove more able than the GOA to bridge Argentina's digital divide. End summary. -------- Overview -------- €¶3. (SBU) Argentina's IT industry is the third largest in Latin America. Total IT production amounted to USD 1.3 billion in 2005, of which USD 250 million were exports. The IT industry is responsible for one percent of Argentine GDP, and employs over 48,000 Argentines, or 1.44 percent of the total labor force. The largest IT consumers within Argentina are the financial, government, telecom, oil, and manufacturing industries. IBM, which is the largest IT company in Argentina in terms of both sales and employment, has 3,500 Argentine employees. IBM and EDS provide services to many Latin American clients from Argentina. Intel will soon begin its first production in South America with a software development facility in Cordoba. Microsoft maintains a presence in Argentina only for public relations and marketing purposes. Smaller domestic and foreign firms produce software, hardware, and services for mostly local clients. ------------ Rapid Growth ------------ €¶4. (U) Argentina's IT industry enjoys many advantages. Argentine workers are comparatively well educated. Since the 2002 devaluation of the peso, Argentine skilled labor has been competitively priced. The relatively large domestic market allows firms to gain experience in the local market before exporting, while the predominance of the Spanish language gives Argentine companies access to important export markets. €¶5. (U) Argentina's IT sector is growing quickly. IT grew 29.3 percent in 2005, roughly triple the rate of the Argentine economy as a whole, and generated 20,000 new jobs. Domestic and export sales contributed equally to this growth as exports increased 30 percent in 2005. Revenues from hardware grew 37.6 percent, while revenues from software grew 22 percent and revenues from services grew 20 percent in 2005. €¶6. (SBU) IT companies expect continued rapid growth and are investing heavily in Argentina. IBM added 750 employees in 2005 and expects to add 500 employees per year over the next four years. IBM would like to double this number of new employees, but it is limited by the number of qualified graduates, its ability to develop new managers to supervise these new employees, and available office space. IBM is currently looking for a local company to build and lease a BUENOS AIR 00000748 002 OF 003 large new office building to house its new employees. Intel recently began work on a multimillion-dollar facility in Cordoba for 450 employees. ---------------------------------------- Explosive Growth of Small U.S. Companies ---------------------------------------- €¶7. (U) There has been a boom in the number of small U.S. hardware and software companies in the Buenos Aires neighborhoods of Palermo, Palermo Chico and Palermo Hollywood during the past two years, according to industry sources. Most of the firms are subsidiaries of U.S. companies that are based in Silicon Valley, California, Austin, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina. They generally employ 50 to 100 people and maintain a relatively low profile. This expansion is also being felt in the provinces. For example, a government official in the province of Salta recently told the Economic Counselor about a former Argentine employee of a U.S. software company who now operates a company in Salta providing software for U.S. companies. This is one of several such companies in that province. U.S. firms move operations or outsource to Argentina to take advantage of Argentina's relatively high educational levels and low labor costs. -------------- Digital Divide -------------- €¶8. (U) The rapid growth in Argentina's IT industry has left many Argentines behind. The population of Internet users grew 40 percent in 2005, but computer use in Argentina is still limited to the middle and upper classes. Only ten million Argentines, or roughly a fourth of the population, have regular access to the Internet. The vast majority of these computer users are concentrated in the nation's largest cities, according to a survey by Microsoft. Approximately 20 percent of the population does not have an equal opportunity to access the Internet because broadband has not reached their poorer neighborhoods. €¶9. (U) The GOA has instituted a number of projects with mixed results to combat this digital divide. Argentina's Ministry of Education together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology launched "One Laptop Per Child" in 2005. This program intends to distribute between 500,000 and 1 million low-cost laptops to poor children in Argentina. Another Ministry of Education plan launched in 2005 intends to distribute 100,000 computers to 12,000 schools. The GOA also partly revived a plan to establish Community Technological Centers (CTCs) after abandoning it during the recession of 1999-2002. There are now 1,350 CTCs in Argentina. A lack of funding and training hampers these programs, according to the director of the Argentine Telework Association and the director of projects for the educ.ar program. An estimated 71 percent of Argentine educators have never used the Internet, and only 3 percent of Argentine Internet users regularly access the Internet from an educational institution. By contrast, 60 percent of Internet users go online in cybercafs, 41 percent go online at home, and 14 percent go online at work, with many having more than one mode of Internet access. €¶10. (U) Private companies are also sponsoring programs to bridge the digital divide. The "My PC Program," jointly funded by 40 mostly Argentine firms, is designed to bridge the digital divide by providing low-cost PCs to the nation's poor. Seven of the eight largest supporters are U.S. firms, including Intel, Microsoft, and HP. The eighth firm is South Korean. The program sold more than 20,000 PCs for approximately USD 800 per unit in April 2005. Other programs, such as Intel's "Quality in Teaching" program and BUENOS AIR 00000748 003 OF 003 Microsoft's "Alliance for Education Program" are also bringing Internet access to the nation's poor. €¶11. (U) Strong competition in both the hardware and software sectors is driving prices down. The hardware market in Argentina is extremely competitive and offers low profit margins. The number of PC manufacturers with sales and service networks in Argentina has increased from four to 17 in recent years. The software market is also competitive. Linux is popular in Argentina due to its low cost, and 42 percent of Argentine firms use Linux on at least some of their computers. Microsoft released a Spanish- language Windows XP "starter edition" to compete with Linux, further reducing the cost of a new Internet-ready PC. The impact of this competition is clear. Sales of PCs for home use increased 93 percent to reach over one million units in 2005. ------- Comment ------- €¶12. (U) The results of GOA programs to bridge the digital divide have so far been disappointing. The private sector will likely prove more successful in this area. End Comment. €¶13. (U) To see more Buenos Aires reporting, visit our classified website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/buenosaires







A 2009 survey in Italy showed that OpenOffice.org usage in the country is 50% among companies, with GNU/Linux at 63%. Just how understated is the impact of Free software as viewed from the States? A lot of the English-speaking news comes from there, pushing aside other claims and measurements, thus establishing a biased consensus.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
 
Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
Links for the day
Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025
August Hits Microsoft Hard: Dead Divisions, Dead Products, Layoffs Again (on Week 1)
Microsoft's debt is soaring
Slopwatch: Slow Day for LLM Slop, Serial Sloppers Still at It in Their Slopfarms
The Web would be better off if those sites went offline
Red Hat Layoffs Expected in 5 Days (Monday)
"They will announce and proceed with the cuts on 08/11."
Links 06/08/2025: Substack in Trouble, Slop Sceptic Shira Perlmutter Seeks Emergency Injunction Pending Appeal
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Pinephone, Reverse-Engineering, and More
Links for the day
Links 06/08/2025: Faked Values of Slop Companies and Government Bailouts
Links for the day
FOSSY 2025 Conference Safety
The GAFAM-funded FOSSY 2025 is over
Microsoft's Favourite Pay-to-Say 'Analyst' Firm Has Just Collapsed
'Analysts' that helped propel Microsoft to fictional values akin to Ponzi schemes
Ask Google (Jeeves)
What does Google "know", not know, or would rather forget (or embellish)?
They Want You To Talk About Trump or 'The Other Bill' in Relation to Trafficking of Underage Girls for Sexual Exploitation
Just something we wanted to say...
How to Quadruple Your "Goodwill" Value and Grow Your (Wall) Street "Value" From $152B to $4000B Without Producing a Single Successful Product/Service
The longer it goes on for, the bigger the implosion will be
Staying Productive
Two very reputable institutions recently told us they now reckon Microsoft is somehow funding those SLAPPs against us
A Blow for Patent Ambitions of Bill Epsteingate
It's about money
66 Countries Where More People Use iPhones (or iPads) Than Microsoft Windows, According to statCounter Data
a list of countries where iOS now exceeds Windows
Apple's iOS Bigger Than Microsoft Windows in Many Countries
This ought to alarm Microsoft
The Mainstream Media Talks About Spotify Share Price and Price Hikes, Not Its Debt Increasing by About 33% in Just 12 Months
Spotify isn't a company in good shape
New "US Editor for The Register" is 80% Microsoft and Windows
they typically just treat Microsoft like the "Holy Grail" of "IT"
Microsoft is Apparently Sending Gag Orders or NDAs to Staff That Got Laid Off (“We were told not to post on LinkedIn. Not to say anything.”)
The main lies we keep seeing
Richard M. Stallman Has Published AI Memos Since 1980 (45 Years Ago)
Back when the term AI actually meant something
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: BitTorrent and Feedly Bots
Links for the day
Windows All-Time Lows, Android All-Time Highs in Kuwait
New lows for Windows can be found in many countries this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 05, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 05, 2025