The challenges that Colombia still must face in order to advance in innovation

Although in recent years innovation in Colombia has been promoted, to the point that it has been presented an increase of 29.4% in the workforce dedicated to innovative activities, According to a report from Andi’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Management, the truth is that the country still must face significant challenges in this field.

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After analyzing global innovation indices, the Laboratory of Innovation, Creativity and New Technologies of the National University of Colombia, LAB101, identified four challenges that the country must face in order to continue advancing in the field of innovation and new technologies.

The first challenge that the laboratory mentions is that the country must strengthen investment in research and development. And to advance on the innovation front it will be “essential that both the public and private sectors allocate greater resources to research and development”, all in order to promote the generation of new knowledge and technologies.

The second challenge that must be taken into account is how to improve the quality of education in the national territory. “Strengthening of training in areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) is required, from basic to higher education,” requires the analysis of LAB101.

For its part, the third challenge that must be prioritized focuses on reducing the digital divide, since according to the analysis, to achieve this objective it is necessary to adopt “solid and sustainable measures”which allow guaranteeing equitable access to the Internet and information and communication technologies (ICT).

Finally, the LAB101 report points out the need to promote a culture of innovation. “It is important to create an environment favorable to innovation in which creativity, risk-taking and learning from mistakes are valued”the report emphasizes.

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For Jhon García, leader of LAB101, the country requires a “comprehensive vision of innovation”, and to build it it is important that the various economic sectors, as well as academia, get involved.

“It is essential to understand that innovation must not only be considered from a business perspective, but also from its impact and application in the community, which encompasses both the state level and the efforts and environments conducive to promoting innovation in collaboration with communities. ”, he added.

It should be noted that the LAB101 analysis emphasizes that advances in innovation in Colombia “They are encouraging and represent an opportunity for the development of the country. However, there is still a way to go to match the levels of innovation of the most developed economies.”

Although Colombia still does not occupy a privileged place in the World Innovation Index, according to the Andi Innovation and Entrepreneurship Managementthe country has experienced “notable advances in business innovation in recent years.”