Winners of the CAF 2014 Patents initiative receive awards during the 4th RED OTT Congress in Mexico
José Torán, María Parente, Carlos Calvo, and Ricardo Chicurel are the winners of the first edition of the Technological Patents for Development Regional Initiative
The technological concepts proposed by José Torán, María Parente, and Carlos Calvo for "hydro-kinetic" technology, and by Ricardo Chicurel for "Residential Sector" technology, won the first edition of the Technological Patents for Development Regional Initiative, a program created by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, seeking to establish a platform for the generation of patentable technological concepts, implement pilot projects for the selected technologies, and generate networks of knowledge and training in the region.
The award ceremony was carried out in the framework of CAF's events in the 4th RED OTT Congress, which took place in the city of Pachuca, Mexico, which included the presentation of the Technological Patents for Development Regional Initiative and two workshops, one related to training on Technological Research, and another on how to conceptualize and develop applications for Innovative Technological Patents.
Maria Paz Estenssoro, CAF's Director Representative in Mexico, stated, "It is the time to make patents, create profitable innovation to reduce inequalities, promote social inclusion, and generate productive processes and dignified work in Latin America".
At the same time, Álvaro Atilano, coordinator of the Initiative, expressed the need to redirect the innovation strategies in the region to promote investments. "It is very important to generate and market innovating technologies that help increase Latin America's exports in the long term. During the past two decades, investments in science, technology, and innovation in most countries of the region have not contributed to increase the indicators associated to technological development at a regional scale".
The Technological Patents for Development Regional Initiative is a program that promotes regional training and institutional strengthening, in order to increase patentable technological innovation to contribute to increase high technology exports from Latin America.
Some of the contributions of the initiative are: training the population regarding the subject of technological innovation, increasing the number of applications for international patents coming from the region through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), implementing pilot projects for the selected technologies, promoting the creation of patent incubators in the region, and generating networks of knowledge.
Thus, through its initiative, CAF promotes technological innovation as one of the drivers of economic growth and sustainable development in Latin America.
CAF's more recent content
Paving and maintenance of rural roads to guarantee progress in Peru
CAF presented in Lima the Guide “Rural roads: A door to development and territorial connectivity”, in which it offers guidelines that help guarantee the population's equitable access to opportunities for personal and professional development.
CAF and MCDF support Jamaica’s vision for a global logistics hub
The Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) approved total financing of USD 550,000 in support of CAF’s partnership with the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) to implement the Jamaica Logistics Hub Initiative (LHI) and the development of the Caymanas Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which will contribute to positioning Jamaica as a global logistics hub and gateway that will interconnect the Americas to the world.