In Buenos Aires, a city commits to a long-neglected neighborhood

Leadership changes in Argentina and its capital city of Buenos Aires in December 2015 marked the beginning of a significant political moment for urban governance and innovation. With the former mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, now Argentina’s president and his former chief of staff, Horacio Rodriguéz Larreta, now the current mayor, for the first time in modern history the leadership of the country and its capital are aligned and focused on maximizing the potential of this metro region of more than 12 million people.

When we recently visited Buenos Aires, we found local leaders committed to economic transformation, governance reform, and global integration. It was especially evident in efforts, begun under the Macri mayoralty, to address spatial inequality through investments in the historically underserved southern half of the city.

The Parque Patricios Ecobici station, near the Subte metro.

The southwestern neighborhood of Parque Patricios Distrito Tecnológico, is the posterchild for these efforts. Historically challenged by a lack of transit connections, commercial activity, and security, the area was designated a “creative district” in 2008 and has recently benefited from key public investment efforts like commercial tax relief through 2034, a city Subte subway station, the Ecobici bike share system, and a host of publicly supported programs for entrepreneurs and residents. Two hundred forty businesses—a mix of software companies and major global consultancies like Tata, Accenture, and Deloitte—now call the neighborhood home. The district also houses a campus of Instituto Tecnológico Buenos Aires (ITBA), the prestigious engineering university, and other university extensions are in the works.

4 Steps for Launching Corporate Social Responsibility at Your Business

By Lisanne06 July, 2016Blog-english, Blog-espanol

Author: Michael Glauser

Publication: Entrepreneur

Link to original article

Launching CSR at Your Business

The following excerpt is from Michael Glauser’s new book Main Street Entrepreneur. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a hot topic in the business world. Companies of all sizes are being encouraged (and sometimes forced) to become more responsible in their communities. Being a responsible “corporate citizen” includes two important components: 1) things an organization does to society and 2) things an organization does for society.

A List of Cross-Segment Investors to Consider if You are Raising Funds in Latin America

By Lisanne01 July, 2016Blog-english, Blog-espanol

Author: Kate

Publication: Let’s Talk Payments

Link to original article

A List of Cross-Segment Investors to Consider if You are Raising Funds in Latin America

Latin America is one of the hottest emerging regions that can offer a tremendous opportunity for startups across industries. As we have recently started discovering local FinTech ecosystems, it became clear that mobile has made a significant impact across industries and that FinTech companies looking to enter the market should think mobile-first.

There is another important hallmark of the market in Latin America that opens endless opportunities for newcomers. According to the Center of Financial Inclusion estimations, 70% of people in Latin America do not have a bank account. Hence, it is an especially hot market for mobile-focused challenger banks to make an impact on the lives of a vast majority of the population. Mobile can become a gateway to the large market of the underbanked. It’s become such a powerful tool that it has changed the behavioral patterns across industries and has a great potential to become a primary channel for all kinds of interaction.

Why Argentina should be your next development outsourcing hub

By Lisanne28 June, 2016Blog-english, Blog-espanol

Outsourcing has become very popular over the past few years, especially within the development sector. Lately, I have read several articles about why companies should outsource their development to other parts in the world. In this article we will focus on the emerging market of Argentina. The country has a growing market, thriving IT sector, and many more beneficial aspects that will be explained in more detail.

# 1 Emerging growth of IT Talent

With the growth of internet usage and the high volume of IT talent, Argentina is becoming more and more tech-talent centric. This can also be seen throughout the expanding market of (tech) startups. The entrepreneurial spirit of Argentina shows that there are a lot of talented people doing everything they can to get their own business going.