CAF-OEI innovation program trained over 1,600 participants in Latin America

In 2020, CAF—development bank of Latin America—and OEI, Organization of Ibero-American States, kicked off the Project for the Promotion and Articulation of Innovation Ecosystems in Latin America, which successfully ended in December 2022. The goal of the program was to design and deliver learning experiences to foster and consolidate innovation ecosystems in Latin American countries.

The closing event was held on March 23, supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications and the National University of Costa Rica, where the protagonists announced the main results obtained throughout the program as well as experiences and lessons learned.

CAF Regional Manager for Mexico and Central America Rene Orellana highlighted the importance of advancing spaces of collaboration between different environments that are part of an Innovation Ecosystem. “Thanks to the training received, participants were able to come up with over 400 innovation challenges based on the needs of each organization. The co-creation and collaboration between the different entities, especially between academia and the business sector, was key to implement and tailor the tools to our reality. Also, it was possible to build capacities in companies and universities which will allow them to replicate knowledge and increase the number of indirect beneficiaries of the program, as well as maximize results in the medium term.”

Furthermore, Patricio Montesinos, High Commissioner for the Promotion of Innovation Ecosystems at the OEI noted: “The main difficulty that prevents collaboration of university professors in addressing the innovation challenges of businesses is distrust. This project aimed to strengthen the much needed cooperation between SMEs and universities in an effort to learn together to address innovation challenges. The project has trained more than 1,600 participants, with 500 from universities and 1,000 representatives of SMEs, in order to learn, not only to trust each other through collaboration, but to jointly tackle innovation challenges of SMEs. Innovation is not just a matter of inspiration, but rather a consequence of systematizing the management of the innovation process. The Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain has designed and certified this training process for more than 18 universities in 7 countries in the region. Sena (Colombia) and the OEI have been jointly co-financing the project to support this CAF initiative”

Program results

• Between 2021 and 2022, the Innovation Challenges course completed 15 editions.
• Seven countries have benefited from the program (Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay).
• A total of 1,600 participants were trained in the Innovation Challenges courses. These include college professors, business sector representatives, students and administrative staff of various universities and chambers of commerce, among others.
• 661 companies received training.
• 18 universities participated in the program, building capacities among their faculty.
• 427 innovation challenges were formulated, some of which received funding from local science and technology agencies to support implementation.