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By Duncan McGowan

Panama is increasingly becoming one of the most tech-savvy countries in Latin America. According to c, Panama’s internet penetration is already at 70 percent, which represents a 53 percent increase since 2014.

The rapid growth in Internet use is, if nothing else, strong evidence of the modernization that is transforming Panama, as a booming economy impacts every level of society.  Google executives shared the information at “Google Day”,  an event focused on Panama companies looking to expand their digital activity, reports El Capital Financiero.

One of the new developments that businesses should embrace is a rapid move toward people accessing the internet through voice-activated “assistants,” said Alejandro Rico, Google’s account executive for Central America and the Caribbean. In this new era, companies must incorporate the new assistance technologies to keep pace with the changing market, including users who are “increasingly curious, demanding and impatient.”

Here is another interesting stat: Of the 2.9 million active internet users in Panama, 2.5 million do so primarily through their mobile phone, according to Google. Panama should be a “mobile first” market, Google’s Inés Peralta told the attendees.

“We know that the brands that will succeed will be those that can assist their clients in everything they need and for that they must anticipate,” Peralta said.

The acceleration of internet users in Panama has been “truly strong,” according to Daniel Castelblanco, Google’s research manager. He said 91 percent of users “always or almost always look for information on the internet before buying,” El Capital reports.

Image Source: Quick Web Tips