Innovalatino is a new joint initiative launched in 2009 by Fundación Telefónica, INSEAD eLab and the OECD Development Centre with the aim of assessing Latin America’s capacity to innovate for economic development and the well-being of its citizens. The project combines the rigorous approach of INSEAD, one of the world’s leading business schools, the sound statistical and research expertise of the OECD Development Centre, and Telefonica Foundation’s knowledge on innovation processes in Latin America.

Objectives

During the initial three years of the project, InnovaLatino will pursue four main objectives:

Enrich the debate on innovation in the region by discussing and measuring the many dimensions of innovation in Latin America;
Benchmark innovation in Latin America with respect to other emerging economies and OECD countries;
Identify best practices in the region;
Distill specific recommendations for public and private sector decision makers to foster innovation policie
ValueAdded

InnovaLatino aims at expanding and enriching the debate on innovation in Latin America beyond traditional science and technology measures. It will provide a broader set of indicators to measure the complexity and variety of innovation in the region, assessing Latin America’s capacities to innovate for wealth and well being.

Research will also focus on capturing the many dimensions of innovation usually overlooked in Latin America in order to provide a better description and understanding of the region’s innovative ecosystems and opportunities to maximise its potential.

A Collaborative Approach

InnovaLatino organises several workshops in order to share experiences with other innovation leading institutions, particularly the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). The initiative also benefits greatly from the OECD’s longstanding expertise in this field, and INSEAD’s work in the Global Innovation Index.

Extensive consultation and collaboration with other regional and national institutions working on innovation in Latin America, such as SEGIB, ECLAC, EC, RICYT, CAF and BNDES, is also already underway.