When we think about the Americas, we’re actually talking about very different realities, from the information technology hubs in Silicon Valley and Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Monterrey, Sao Paulo, and the myriad cultures in Central and South America, plus the multi-lingual Caribbean.

In general, while Latin America is quick to embrace new technologies, these countries are frequently restricted by outdated hardware, rigidly structured family companies and, often, onerous corporate regulations and taxation that can discourage investment and innovation. And yet, there is a tool that can help Latin America and the Caribbean compete with Silicon Valley speed: the Cloud.

As tens of thousands of Latin American companies of all sizes migrate to cloud computing, they discover that they are not only saving money, but are also becoming nimbler, more efficient and more productive. This allows them to grow and contribute to GDP growth in their countries of origin, which benefits the entire social and economic structure. As companies get over their fear of privacy or security breaches in the cloud, they discover that they can greatly increase their speed to market through better data management. This benefits organizations in all industries, but particularly those in the food and beverage, health-care and retail sectors, and of course those in the technology sector, both B2B and B2C. Governments that encourage cloud adoption will benefit from decreased unemployment and better competitiveness.