Page - 176 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

176 I. Trejos-Zelaya Engineeringas theirmainsubject, andstill lessdo focusonsoftwarequalityand/or software testing. We shallpresentaviewonthechallengesaheadfor thedevelopmentofsoftware quality and testing capabilities in Spanish-speaking America and prospects for its expansionandprogress. After this Introduction, the chapter is organised as follows: the next section provides a background on the evolution of computing in Latin America since the 1950s to the present day, then goes into describing workforce demand and supply and skill sets required for IT and particularly in softwareengineering,emphasizing those related to individual and social competencies. Examples of the Hispanic America software industry are provided, followed by a discussion of the impact of professional certification schemes on software quality and testing on the region. Then, the situation of Hispanic America post-secondary education on software engineeringispresented,with specificanalysisof theauthor’senvironment—Costa Rica. The chapter concludes with a view on the challenges ahead and promising prospects lying in the future of software quality and software testing in Hispanic America. 2 Background Computing in Latin America started in the late 1950s when the first computers were introduced in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Chile [8]. Da Costa [9] asserts that, since those times, computing in Latin America has been influenced mostly by the USA and, to a lesser extent, Western Europe. Economic, political and social matters were diverse during the 1960s and 1970s, and had an influence on the development of computing-related higher-education programmes and local IT ecosystems; there are significant variations in the evolution of IT among countries. Larger countries, such as Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, started assimilating computing technologies earlier than smaller ones. First users were universities,governmentsand largecorporations(somestate-owned). First degreeprogrammesappearedclose to engineering,mathematicsor science faculties. Among the first were Argentina’s Universidad de Buenos Aires, which established in 1962 a scientific computingprogrammeas a sequel to their Instituto de Cálculo (Calculation Institute). National Polytechnic Institute founded their degree programme in computing engineering in 1965, followed by the National AutonomousUniversityofMexico(UNAM).Venezuela,Chile,ColombiaandPeru followed suit in the late 1960s. About the same time, in Costa Rica, industrial IT players (IBM and Burroughs) offered training courses in programming and system administration to engineering and science students and professionals to grow local capabilities for operating and developing computing systems. During the 1970s, most Latin American countries established educational programmes related to computing. Terminology was diverse; frequently appearing terms were ‘Informática’ (Informatics), ‘Computación’ (Computing) or ‘Ingeniería de Sis- temas’ (Systems Engineering). Colombia’s Universidad Nacional established the