Description and Characteristics

Escrito por: Francisco Javier Roldán Velásquez (@PaisdelSaber)

Capabilities of the Living Lab 'Antioquia, Department of Knowledge’ and its attributes. The conditions are already given with advances in appropriation of Science and Technology, Open Innovation, and the use ICT, where citizens work collectively and participate in all the issues that make it possible for the Department of Antioquia is a national model (See: “State of the Art in Science, Technology and Innovation and ICT” and "Institutional Network of the Department of Antioquia").

The Department of Antioquia including Medellin, presents advantages in institutional innovation, enterprise development, advances in Science, Technology and Innovation in the region, mainly in the capital Medellin (See more at Bridging Development: The Medellin Experience) and its Metropolitan Area (View ‘Innovation Projects under development at the Department of Antioquia’).

Antioquia is leading the country in research. Research groups located throughout the department running 26% of research projects carried out at the national level. Of the 71 groups ranked by Colciencias as excellence in the country, 26 are in Medellin, 37%, and 600 graduates in doctoral programs, 200 are located in Antioquia, 33%. This region showed greater connectivity and ICT infrastructure of the country, mainly over 4,350 public educational institutions, without having the private, all of which have computers with Internet. Likewise, the growing boom in new businesses and strengthening of entrepreneurship throughout the department.

Their key attributes and key success factor of "AntioquiaDeptodelConocimientoLL" is the enormous capacity for creativity of its population, shown for years by the strength of its people in the country's business innovation. The business boom that Antioquia has evidenced for years with major businesses in Colombia as Grupo Bancolombia, Empresas Publicas de Medellin, UNE Telecomunicaciones, Suramericana de Inversiones, Grupo Nacional de Chocolates, Industrias Alimenticias Noel, Haceb, Cementos Argos, Coltejer, Leonisa, Fabricato-Tejicondor, Sofasa, Solla S.A., ISA, ISAGEN, Coltabaco, Almacenes Éxito, Colanta, Postobon, Imusa, Comfama, Comfenalco, Industrias Extra, among others.

Main features of the Living Lab of ‘Antioquia, Department of Knowledge’:

1. The Education in the Department of Antioquia is the first and most fundamental Megaproject of the administration of Antioquia. It achieved significant progress in ICT infrastructure and connectivity. There are important advances in the field of technical education, bilingualism, teacher training and higher education, which has been supported by the expansion in the sub regions of technological institutions and universities.

2. The Department of Antioquia is the region of Colombia that has the most important investment in recent years by the national government in Science, Technology and Innovation and also in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which has led to a breakthrough to this Department on these issues. See: Competitive Strategy: Strategic Clusters.

3. Building up a strong institutional network of social actors on issues related with the economic development of the region, for multisectoral coordination between government, academia, the productive sector and third sector (NGOs) in the structuring, implementation and consolidation of the Department of Antioquia, as Territory of Knowledge (see Institutional Network of Antioquia), with broad citizen participation in the processes of applying of Science, Technology and Innovation (ST+I), through the implementation and appropriating of the new Laws of the Science, Technology and Innovation and the Information and Communications Technology -  ICT, in the context of the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation, all for finding a solution partnership for economic and social development of the Department of Antioquia.

See more information in spanish, presented in the 4 wave of ENoLL in 2010