The Industrial University of Santander hosted the 200th session of the Santander University-Business-Government Committee (CUEES), a forum that for 18 years has promoted collaboration among academia, the business sector, and the government to advance initiatives that contribute to the region’s development and competitiveness.
With the participation of Claudia Benavides Salazar, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and César Darío Guerrero Santander, Deputy Minister of Talent and Social Appropriation of Knowledge, the event provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress made and identify new challenges for Santander.
“On 200 occasions, someone called a meeting, and someone decided to come and sit around a table—and that is of immense value,” noted the minister, who highlighted the continuity of CUEES and, in particular, the trust built up over the years.
For Benavides Salazar, that trust has become an asset for the region and one of the reasons behind its achievements. “Trust, even if it doesn’t always show up in the indicators, produces results, and Santander has plenty to show for it,” she stated.
In her remarks, the minister noted that Santander remains among the five most competitive regions in Colombia and acknowledged the role of CUEES in connecting scientific capabilities with business needs. Among the examples she cited were the consolidation of the Guatiguará Technology Park and progress on the department’s first assessment of Science, Technology, and Innovation Activities (ACTI).
Regarding this assessment, she also noted that having information is essential for guiding decisions: “What a system fails to identify is difficult to support, and what is not measured is difficult to defend”.
The minister highlighted these advances as an example of what regional coordination can achieve and set forth the challenge of continuing to work together to determine what knowledge should be translated into productivity and what capabilities the region needs to develop.
“We cannot do this on our own; we need to do it together,” she said.
UIS, a Key Player in Regional Coordination
The Industrial University of Santander has played an active role in the CUEES and in strategic initiatives that have emerged from this coordination. One of the main examples is the strengthening of the Guatiguará Technology Park, where the University is moving forward with a commitment to expand scientific, technological, and innovation capabilities and position it as a hub for the industrial and digital transformation of Santander and Colombia.
Complementing this process are projects approved with funding from the General Royalties System to strengthen the agricultural sector and Santander’s first ACTI assessment, which will provide evidence on the department’s capabilities and needs in science, technology, and innovation.
For Vanessa Quiroga Arciniegas, director of Knowledge Transfer at the UIS, CUEES’s 18 years of existence are the result of “the perseverance, trust, and commitment of all participating institutions”.
The director also emphasized the need to continue linking research to the needs of society, developing technologies that can be adopted by companies and translated into new products and services.
For his part, Andrés Trillos Célis, president of CUEES, called for continued efforts to strengthen trust and institutional frameworks so that Santander can continue to build capacity and create better conditions for its residents.
“As a forum for dialogue, CUEES must continue to propose actions that empower the region not only to remain among the top five most competitive regions but also to create ever-better conditions for our residents. We want to remain leaders and role models in higher education, workforce training, and primary and secondary education—and for that to translate into better living conditions,” he said.
The 200th session of the CUEES thus marks a new starting point for a partnership that, from Santander, continues to invest in knowledge, innovation, and cooperation as tools to address the region’s challenges and create new opportunities for the region.
