Entrepreneurs and representatives of academia and productive associations of the cocoa and livestock sectors of Santander, attended the call made by the Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), the Colombian Observatory of Science and Technology (OCyT), and the Chamber of Commerce of Bucaramanga (CCB), to make known their main needs and opportunities in technology and innovation.
This activity, which is developed within the cooperation agreement between the three institutions, aims to identify the scientific and technological needs presented by entrepreneurs, in order to work on the development of future strategic foresight exercises. These exercises are aimed at improving their science, technology and innovation capabilities, generating productive development and improving their position in the Departmental Innovation Index ranking for Colombia.
“The idea is to look at what the main needs are with respect to what is being done internationally, and determine how Santander can approach that frontier of knowledge to begin to compete in the market and generate economic and productive development. We want to collect information and identify those needs, what are the opportunities they have identified to grow in terms of market and products, know the infrastructure and technology capabilities they have, but also those they need, and the types of programs associated with innovation and financing,” said Henry Mora Olguín, leader of the OCyT Innovation area.
The information collected will be complemented with data on research and innovation projects, scientific production, available technologies, and associated regulations, among others. The purpose of the above is to identify and characterize the gaps and trends in research, technology and innovation in the selected agricultural sector chains.
Mario Rojas Afanador, project director of Chocolate Gironés, commented that “this activity is very important for the development of innovation in Santander, achieving an articulation between government entities and industry, so that all initiatives go to market and can be monetized. While it is true that we have scientific developments that are very important for academia, it is essential for the industry to monetize them and transfer all this information to the market”. In total, there were two days of work in the UIS Bucarica building, where, in addition to interviews, focus groups were held to address issues related to capabilities, appropriation, strengthening and results of innovation.
