Science, technology and innovation are essential to face the great challenge that Latin America and the Caribbean has to change the direction of productivity that has remained stagnant during recent decades.
The CTI is called to play a central role in the productive development policies of the countries of the region and their territories, in order to promote the sophistication and diversification of their productive structures as a vehicle to detonate productivity, and thus achieve higher levels. of prosperity and well-being for its inhabitants.
The region still has an important set of challenges ahead in this matter, among which are strengthening public institutions in science, technology and innovation; improve the linkage of STI policies with the strategic challenges of the region; promote regional and international cooperation in this matter and increase the commitment of the private sector to innovation for productivity and competitiveness.
STI policies and their connection with other productive development policies have a central role in a new, more solid, sustainable and inclusive development trajectory, both for their effect on increasing the productivity of existing activities, and for the creation of new sectors through innovation and technology-based entrepreneurship in new products and services.
The institutionalization of these policies from subnational governments is key to guaranteeing their sustainability and effectiveness. This ensures that STI policies are systematically integrated into territorial development plans, allowing territories to maintain a long-term strategy, even in the face of political or cyclical changes. In addition, subnational governments, being the closest to local realities, are in a privileged position to implement these policies in a manner adapted to the particularities of each territory, thus contributing to inclusive and equitable development. However, there is great heterogeneity in the capacities of the territories for the implementation of STI efforts in particular and productive development in general.
Therefore, what do we have to do so that science, technology and innovation effectively play a transformative role and increase productivity? And how should we do it at the national level but also from the subnational and local level? These are the big questions that those responsible for formulating and managing public science, technology and innovation policies face daily, as part of broader productive development policy agendas.
In April 2024, during the Fourth Meeting of the Science, Technology and Innovation Conference, the areas of cooperation of a regional agenda for the period 2024-2025 were defined, which will have science, technology and innovation as its central axis. productive development. One of the four lines of work of the Conference concerns science, technology and innovation policies with a territorial focus.
In the same way, the Network of Subnational Governments for Productive Development, which last February 2024 defined its action agenda, deliberated that one of the main axes of this agenda would be science, technology and innovation policies.
To deepen these topics and specifically to discuss STI policies from the territory within the framework of this meeting, a round table will be held with specialists and representatives of subnational governments who will debate based on the following questions:
- What does it mean to develop a science, technology and innovation policy from the territorial level?
- Is there a territorial specificity that must be considered?
- How to articulate national efforts with subnational efforts in science, technology and innovation for productive development?
- How to strengthen the capacities of the most lagging territories?
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