Actualidad

Science, technology and innovation in the digital economy. The outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), headquartered in Santiago de Chile, is one of the United Nations’ five regional commissions. It was set up to contribute to Latin America’s economic development, coordinating actions to promote and strengthen countries’ economic relations with one another and with the rest of the world. The commission was subsequently enlarged to include the countries of the Caribbean.

This publication reveals a major challenge facing the region: that of diversifying its economies to embrace science, technology and innovation.

It recognises that innovation plays a central role in a country’s ability to take part in global trade and growth. The publication warns that the indicators for innovation and access to technology are not encouraging. There are structural deficiencies in the absorption of knowledge about new technology paradigms and in participating in the creation of the paradigms.

The report proposes public policies promoting more inclusive, sustainable development to enable the region to meet this challenge, as well as bilateral, multilateral and regional cooperation identifying key areas for working together in science, technology and innovation.