Training for Development: Internet and Entrepreneurial Training in Venezuela

1 Center for Latin American Studies, Stanford University. Bolivar House, 582 Alvarado Row, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-8545. The findings presented in this study are drawn from Internet Entrepreneurship in Venezuela: Opportunities and Obstacles, a larger work by the authors submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Thesis, June, 1998. ABSTRACT: The Internet offers a unique opportunity for developing countries, as one of the few emerging fields where the industrialized countries' leverage over developing countries has yet to be established, as well as for the entrepreneurs in such countries, to sell their goods and services to an international markets. Yet in early 1998 there did not seem to exist a significant presence of Venezuelan Internet Entrepreneurship. This study examines the present limitations of available Internet Entrepreneurship training in Venezuela, by analyzing the curricula and degree requirements of four Venezuelan universities, and contrasting it with those of Stanford University. Furthermore, this study then draws from interviews with executives, professors, professionals and students to verify the results of the curriculum survey and to ascertain the perceptions of university graduates in computer science vis-a-vis the labor market.