A home where Caribbean talent can stay and build

For years, Latin America's tech map was drawn in other cities, and the Colombian Caribbean was left off it. Not for lack of talent: there are universities, creativity and people eager to build here. What was missing was ecosystem infrastructure: sustained communities, up-to-date education, first job opportunities and a story of our own to tell.

But there is a deeper gap than the one on the map. Even within the region, technology reaches those who already have access first. A young person from a stratum 1 neighborhood in Soledad, a woman who has never written a line of code or a student from San Basilio de Palenque rarely see themselves in this industry. If the Caribbean becomes a tech hub and they're left out, we won't have changed anything.

We want the Colombian Caribbean to be a Latin American tech epicenter, with its own character, talent and way of relating to the world. But we measure it by who gets in: how many people who never had access to technology now learn, work or build companies in it.

That's why we prioritize young people and women from low-income, rural and marginalized communities. It isn't a program on the margins of the ecosystem: it's the reason the Foundation exists.

Behind software comes a deeper wave: robotics and physical artificial intelligence. Barranquilla was Colombia's industrial capital and still has that DNA: a port, logistics and technical trades. Many of those jobs are going to change. We want the region's workers and young people to be ready, as protagonists of that change rather than spectators.

Fundación Código Abierto is a nonprofit based in El Prado, Barranquilla. Our work is turning technology into culture and into concrete opportunities. We also organize Barranqui-IA and TechCaribe, and we work with communities such as GDG Barranquilla and TechQueens.

An ecosystem needs more than a foundation. To cover education, innovation and capital, we work with three partner companies that are separate from the Foundation and have their own business models.

The Foundation's founders hold stakes in some of them, and we'd rather say so upfront. That's why we work with them at market prices, and social programs and scholarships are always run by the Foundation.

If you're young or have never coded: there are free events, scholarships and a community ready to welcome you. If you're a developer, a mentor or part of the diaspora: your experience can open the door for someone else. If you're a company: hire local talent and sponsor scholarships. If you're a government or international cooperation agency: there's a serious local counterpart here to bring training and jobs to the territories.