The Information Technology (IT) environment in Peru is very much a work-in-progress. Until the mid-1990s, the telecommunications infrastructure, which is currently one of the most important tools for IT and information access in a country, was a poorly maintained system with poor access in urban areas and nearly nonexistent access in rural areas. The privatization of the state-owned system and subsequent liberalization of the telecommunications market has led to radical shifts in the entire Peruvian IT environment. Privatization and liberalization are discussed as a specific section of this report, but readers will also note repeated references to them throughout the report. In addition to enacting privatization legislation, the Peruvian government has been active in passing other laws to ensure data privacy, electronic commerce safety and ease, and encouragement of IT use to promote and improve Peruvian industry.
Peru has limited business applications of IT, including hardware and software manufacturing and electronic commerce. Hardware manufacturing shows little hope of rapid growth in the near future, but the software manufacturers have found niche markets for customized software, and electronic commerce is projected to grow rapidly in Peru, as in many other nations. Little information was available about the IT-readiness of Peru's workforce, but promising trends are apparent in literacy and education.