Co-creation and territorial inclusion: central axis of mission-oriented STI Policies

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), through the subsidiary body, Science, Innovation and ICT Conferenceorganized the seminar titled “The Governance of Mission-Oriented STI Policies: The Case of Colombia.” The event, framed in the Governance of Science, Technology and Innovation working group, brought together more than 230 attendees from 25 countries. The objective of the meeting was to present the case of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia in the use of missions to strengthen the country’s STI policies.

The seminar began with the intervention of Marco Llinás, director of the Productive and Business Development Division of ECLAC, who highlighted the productive lag in the region and reflected on the strategies necessary to address it. “We are convinced that part of the solution is to combine efforts in science, technology and innovation with productive development policies,” he stated. Next, Llinás mentioned Colombia’s progress in a reindustrialization agenda based on five major strategic bets. However, he noted that this approach raises key questions about governance, especially around how to effectively articulate the multiple actors involved. “This seminar offers us an opportunity to reflect on these challenges and explore how we can build a more inclusive, fair and sustainable development,” he concluded.

Following his words, the seminar focused on the Colombian experience in the development of missions, where the implementation of this approach has led to the identification of five national priorities: bioeconomy, energy transition, food sovereignty, human right to food and science for peace. Regarding these priorities, Ana Lucia Caicedo, Vice Minister of Knowledge, Innovation and Productivity, recounted some of the challenges of implementing this approach. Among them, the need to reach the territories and guarantee that policies are sustainable despite changes in government stood out. “We are considering a ten-year horizon, with the firm commitment that the results the country needs must be long-term,” he explained. Furthermore, he highlighted the importance of including local knowledge as an integral part of policies, ensuring that decisions are rooted in territorial realities.

After presenting the project in a generic way, the panelists highlighted some of the benefits of working through missions. For her part, Johana Regino, professor and researcher at the Universidad de la Salle, mentioned that the first step must be to “build on what has been built,” taking advantage of existing resources and capabilities to propose solid roadmaps that articulate the visions of all actors. involved.

Another key element that Ana María Castro presented was that the benefits of mission-oriented research and innovation policies (PIIOM) are bidirectional. “The participation of the university has not only contributed to the design of policies, but has also strengthened our institutional capacities, allowing us greater immersion in the territories and two-way learning with the communities.”

Precisely this consolidation of the roadmap that Regino mentioned has allowed the country to attract international collaboration to Colombia. Felipe García, manager of the Biodiversity Economics and Finance Center at the Humboldt Institute, stated that this strategic approach has generated a critical mass in research and encouraged the creation of businesses. “Colombia is attracting international collaboration and achieving significant advances that make it increasingly competitive,” he highlighted.

Another key element that Ana María Castro presented was that the benefits of PIOM are bidirectional. “The participation of the university has not only contributed to the design of policies, but has also strengthened our institutional capacities, allowing us greater immersion in the territories and two-way learning with the communities.”

Finally, Álvaro Quintero, from the National Cancer Institute, highlighted that missions allow the efforts of multiple actors to be coordinated towards shared goals. “The execution of public policies through missions contributes more than other models to ensuring that policies have a real impact on the transformation of society,” he said. Along the same lines, Quintero highlighted the importance of co-creating the challenges and goals of these policies, and that they reflect a shared vision that actively integrates all actors, especially the communities. “Much of the Institute’s work has been to reach the territories to ensure that the policy objectives are not imposed by the institutions, but rather emerge from the dialogue and participation of all the voices involved in the process,” he concluded.

The seminar ended with a round of questions, moderated by Nicolo Gligo, economic affairs officer at ECLAC, in which the panelists reiterated the importance of co-creation as a cornerstone of the development of mission-oriented public policies. Furthermore, they added that it is essential to territorialize all decisions, guaranteeing that regional diversity is represented and that policies reflect the specific realities and needs of each community. As a last point, they highlighted that the success of this approach lies in generating trust and credibility with the population, ensuring that the solutions are truly inclusive and sustainable in the long term.

This meeting closed with ECLAC’s commitment to continue promoting instances of dialogue and learning that facilitate regional collaboration and allow the sharing of successful experiences. For its part, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia reaffirmed its willingness to continue strengthening international cooperation and participation in these spaces.