Medellin
Settled in the Aburra Valley 5,000 feet above sea level, Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia. The city is home to more than 2.7 million people. Having seen a drastic decline in crime and poverty rates, Medellin is now booming, currently outpacing all other major Colombian cities in urban development. Known as the City of Eternal Spring due to its mild weather, Medellin is a great place to attract new hires to and retain local talent.
Recent transformations in politics, education and social development led to Medellin being named the 2013 Most Innovative City in the World by the Wall Street Journal and Citi. The “Ruta N” campus in Medellin is one of the many projects that the Colombian government has embarked on with an aim of turning Medellin into the innovation capital of Latin America by 2021. “Ruta N” is a Science, Technology and Innovation District which covers three neighbourhoods and is home to more than 60,000 people.
A young talent pool also contributes to this innovative mindset: Medellin has 80 higher education institutions and has produced 13% of all graduates in Colombia in the last ten years. Specifically in Medellin there is a fast growing tech talent pool as two of the top local universities offer a degree in Computer Science, not to mention the over 40 education centres offering IT training.
Colombia holds the highest position in Latin America in the World Bank’s rating for "ease of doing business" in 2016 through 2017 and it is featured 10th in A.T. Kearney’s 2017 Global Services Index, which ranks the world’s top outsourcing countries. Like other prominent cities in Colombia, Medellin has an excellent availability of specialised bilingual professionals and a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, while more airlines now offer direct flights to Miami, New York, and other major hubs.