Colombian Caribbean Companies Strengthen Innovative Capabilities

In order to boost competitiveness and productivity in companies in the Colombian Caribbean region on the basis of innovation, the first “Innovation Week” program was held in the country, featuring 18 leading companies from various sectors. Upon completion of the diagnostic stage (April 13), the face-to-face workshops in this training activity were held in the city of Cartagena, on April 16–20, led by international experts Guillermo Beuchat, Natalia Solar and Rocío Pérez.

“Innovation Week” is sponsored by CAF Development Bank of Latin America as part of its Business Innovation Program, which seeks to build the Research, Development and Innovation (R&D&I) capabilities of companies with regional projection and sectoral research centers to aid in their productive transformation.

“This program will train innovation leaders in Colombian companies, which will allow organizations to apply corporate innovation concepts, disciplines, methodologies and tools in the medium term in an effort to boost their productivity. We expect this week of intensive training to expand capacities in the country that can be replicated and scaled in other companies and cities, bringing about an important impact on national competitiveness,” explained Carolina España, CAF Director-Representative in Colombia.

Following successful experiences for the program in Ecuador and Bolivia last year; Innovation Week comes to Colombia and will be organized in Cartagena by the Bolivar Technological University (UTB) in partnership with the Cartagena Chamber of Commerce, with the support of experts from TRANSFORME Consultores.

UTB representative Luis Carlos Arraut Camargo explained that all participating companies will receive a personalized and confidential diagnosis of their innovation statistic at the end of the program, as well as a motivated, knowledgeable work team, with the tools and skills to apply innovation management processes; and their own implementation plan.

 Importance

Innovation is critical for economic and social development and should not be understood as simply the incorporation of technology or filing of patents, but also as the ability to create and implement disruptive ideas to bring about results such as increased revenue and cost reduction.

Innovation in Colombian companies, as in most countries in the region, has developed slowly. In the 2017 Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Colombia ranks 65th out of 127, and 5th in the region (Latin America and the Caribbean) behind Chile (46th), the regional leader, followed by Costa Rica (53), Mexico (58), and Panama (63).

 Program

“Innovation Week in Colombia seeks to help participating companies become innovation leaders, based on the application of proven corporate innovation concepts, disciplines, methodologies and tools,” said Jairo Heusaba, Chief Executive of CAF Development Bank of Latin America.

Heusaba noted that organizations can learn to innovate by developing 5 skills (questioning everything, observing and learning, broadly connecting, experimenting and taking risks, and associating ideas and problems), thus fostering an innovative attitude, transforming the internal culture and deploying disruptive innovations with a high impact on the business.

He explained that the program includes a two-week pre-program to perform a preliminary diagnosis of the innovation statistic, 16 additional hours of online reading, 32 hours of face-to-face training and 3 months of post-program coaching.

 Organizers

The Bolivar Technology University, is a private accredited institution with 47 years of experience through its El Patio Creativity and Innovation Laboratory, which has served the creative and innovation needs of Cartagena and the regional business sector for 4 years.

TRANSFORME Consultores is an international consultancy firm with more than 15 years of experience, 45 corporate clients in the region and 32,000 participants in its corporate innovation management programs. It is the exclusive representative in Latin America for Innovator’s Accelerator by IDEO and BrightIdea Academy, the corporate training area of BrightIdea, the world’s leading corporate innovation management software company.