Science, Technology and Territorial Innovation, central axis of the debate at the third meeting of the Network of Subnational Governments for productive development

The Network of Subnational Governments for productive development, the Science, Technology and Innovation Working Group with a territorial approach of the Science, Innovation and ICT Conference and the Prefecture of Pichincha organized this meeting that brought together more than 280 participants with the objective of exchange reflections on how to develop science, technology and innovation (STI) policies at the territorial level.

Marco Llinás, director of the Productive Development Division of ECLAC, opened the meeting by recalling that cooperation between local and national governments is key to getting out of the low growth trap that affects the region. His words were also joined by those of Iván Luna, Director of Science of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia, who reiterated the importance of regional cooperation to share experiences and democratize access to knowledge. In turn, Marisela Rivera, director of International Relations of Pichincha, highlighted the importance of connecting the science and technology agenda with the development agenda in order to achieve more prosperous territories.

The meeting also included the participation of Nicolo Gligo, economic affairs officer at ECLAC, who warned about the low investment in R&D in Latin America and the Caribbean compared to more developed economies. In fact, he pointed out that “with the exception of Brazil, most countries in the region allocate less than 0.6% of GDP to R&D.” Despite this, Gligo emphasized that the solution is not just to increase the spending: “we must start thinking about objectives that do not depend solely on increasing financing, but on the good use and targeting of available resources.”

After the institutional presentations, the round table with experts was inaugurated by Mario Campo Largo, former Secretary of State for Digitalization and Administrative Modernization of Portugal, who began by reflecting on the closeness that regional policies allow: “unlike national policies, regional policies “They can be better adapted to the specific needs of the territory.” In his speech he also pointed out the importance of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) as an engine of development. In particular, Campo Largo assured that promoting business growth and improving the digital skills of SMEs is vital for the region.

Adding to his experience was that of Gonzalo Criollo, executive director of ConQuito, an organization that works in the city of Quito with four key guidelines focused on science, technology and knowledge transfer. Criollo mentioned that, after two decades of work, challenges still persist, especially with technology transfer between educational institutions and private companies. However, these synergies are key to “managing to change our productive matrix.”

Irina Salazar, Regional Manager of Science, Technology and Innovation of Arequipa, spoke next, sharing the experience of the first program of this type in Peru. Salazar assured that the objective is that, after the work carried out by management, it will be possible to “replicate the model in other regions, adapting it to the productive diversity of the country.” Salazar highlighted the need to establish clear lines of action, pointing out that the program works on renewable energies, agriculture, and the promotion and specialization of regional human talent, among others.

Also present was Oscar Vivas, Secretary of Economic Development and Competitiveness of Valle del Cauca, who focused on the need to establish dialogues between the academy, the administration and the business sector to satisfy the demand for human talent in the productive sector: “ large resources are not always required; The essential thing is to align actors and create a dialogue that allows actions to be coordinated efficiently,” he commented.

Along the same lines, Carolina Salazar, strategic director of Ruta N in Medellín, explained that the initiative she is working on was born from continuous dialogue between different actors, with the desire to transform the city of Medellín into a knowledge economy, driven by innovation. As part of the challenges that Salazar identified is “the need to find a solution to the periodicity of the initiatives since these cannot change with political drift.”

At the closing of the panel, ECLAC highlighted that this event is the “first step towards the construction of a territorial perspective on STI.” In this sense, the organization stressed the need to continue the work to replicate the success stories in different contexts in the region. In this sense, ECLAC called on all attendees to continue sharing experiences at the next meeting of the Network of Subnational Governments for productive development, which will take place on December 10 and will be focused on territorial and sustainable productive development.