The IATP platform advances in the strategy to strengthen collaboration networks in Colombia

Last Tuesday, October 22, a meeting was held between the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), the Risaralda Competitiveness Commission (CRC), and representatives of regional clusters, to present the Cluster Initiatives Platform and other IATPs such as a key tool to strengthen collaboration networks in Risaralda, Colombia. This platform seeks to consolidate itself as a central solution for the productive transformation of the region.

The organization understands that cluster initiatives are crucial for the transformation of the productive sector of Risaralda and that the IATP Platform is consolidated as “the only way to generate initiatives with a real impact on the communities and effective policies for productive transformation in the region.” ”.

During the event, the objectives and strategic axes of the IATP Community were presented, and ECLAC urged the different clusters present to join the initiative. Marco Dini, economic affairs officer at ECLAC, explained the work areas of the Platform, which after a year of operation already has 370 georeferenced clusters. Dini highlighted that this effort, in addition to giving them visibility, allows them to legitimize their function by demonstrating that cluster initiatives are not isolated.

After the meeting, new instances were proposed such as the first “Community of Practice” meeting, a series of regional dialogues that will have 10 training sessions to train cluster managers. In these sessions, specific problems of management of the initiatives and The integration of collaborative strategies at the regional level will be promoted.

At the end of the meeting, Natalia García, executive director of the CRCI Risaralda, highlighted the importance of collective work and assured that: “the different collaborative initiatives will continue to be active, working to consolidate registration on the platform.” All of this further strengthens the relations between the clusters and ECLAC in their quest to transform local economies through a productive development model based on cooperation.