Korea funds feasibility study for wireless tech innovation center

The Dominican Republic has received $216US,000 in funding from the South Korean technology innovation fund to carry out a feasibility study for building a wireless technology innovation center in the IT business park Cibernético in capital Santo Domingo, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said in a statement.

The funding is being managed by IDB.

The study will address the demand for wireless technology and define a business plan, the availability of human resources to work at the center and the possibility of knowledge exchange programs with institutions in other countries, as well as a social and economic cost-benefit analysis.

Consultancies have until March 31 to submit expressions of interest to the country's national competition promotion agency (CNC), after which a shortlist of prequalified companies will be drawn up. Consultancy groups must come from IDB member countries.

Contracts will be awarded based on price and quality of the technical proposal.

The studies will identify which types of wireless technologies are most in demand and the center is likely to develop a blend of WiFi, WiMax and cellular technologies, Raymi Fernández, a specialist in wireless technologies at the CNC, told BNamericas.

The Dominican Republic has already become a pioneer in WiMax in Latin America with three operators launching offerings based on the technology in the last four months and that experience makes the country an ideal location for the center, Fernández said.

The specialist added that the idea is to start exporting wireless technologies to other parts of the Caribbean and then eventually to the rest of Latin America.

"There are a lot of business opportunities, as there is a lot of demand for this type of technology but little supply in the region, and we want to see the feasibility of this project given our experience [in this area] and by working with international institutions," Fernández said.

At the Cibernético business park there is already an institute called ITLA that specializes in training and certification in technology, particularly in the area of telecoms networks, and the idea is to capitalize on ITLA's experience to boost this new project, Fernández said.

The specialist said that once the feasibility study is awarded it should take approximately six months to complete and be ready by the end of the year at the latest.

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