CAF and SENACYT promote generation of innovative technology with a global approach

Around 80 participants from 20 Panamanian public and private entities, including universities, companies and associations, received extensive training at the Third Workshop for Accelerated Development of Patents, organized by CAF and SENACYT to promote the generation of technological ideas that can solve problems with a global focus.

The workshop was developed using the CAF Method for the Accelerated Development of Patents, a system that consists of disruptive training that seeks not only to break the existing paradigms in the region regarding technological innovation, but also to conceptualize patentable technologies, including the drafting of high-quality patents. The most recent edition of this training resulted in 82 patented concepts.

CAF representative in Panama Susana Pinilla said: “At CAF, we believe that technological innovation and patents for future innovations created by Latin Americans are the driving force behind the new model of economic growth and sustainable development, based on adding value to our resources and raising productivity to shorten the technology and competitiveness gap between us and the first world. Our goal is to position Panama as a Latin American leader in international patent applications, and SENACYT’s efforts since 2016 are now paying off, as UTP has made the top 50 ranking of patent applicants via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).”

Furthermore, Víctor Sánchez, National Director of Innovation at the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation, said that creating an innovative culture, generating knowledge and learning a new way to compete is also part of the purpose of the patent workshop. Sanchez stressed that in order to compete with leaders in advanced technology, Panama needs to be forward-thinking and to evaluate what we are doing to be at the forefront, to generate knowledge and exploit the nation’s resources by developing innovative mechanisms.

Thanks to the CAF-SENACYT patent acceleration project, 124 applications were patented at the General Directorate of Industrial Property Registration (DIGERPI) and 125 applications via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in the first half of 2018, which led to a significant increase in Panama’s technology innovation indicators, placing the nation as a leader in PCT applications per million inhabitants in the region, above Chile and Mexico, which were traditionally considered leading countries for innovation in the region.

In the two previous editions of the workshop in Panama, 220 technological concepts were developed applying the CAF method for accelerated patent development. The program has been implemented since 2016 as a regional initiative in eight countries and has produced 984 technological concepts with possibility of patenting by public and private entities.