Business & Economy

Peru embraces innovation to tackle Covid-19 crisis

Lima, Nov 2 (efe-epa).- For Peru, innovation and entrepreneurship are the way out of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, in a way that “for every problem there is an opportunity” and only with new ideas can the tough choice between “health and the economy” be avoided.

Starting on Tuesday, Innovate Peru Summit 2020, the largest event in the country for entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, business associations, universities, multilateral stakeholders and in general everyone interested in the innovation and development ecosystem of new companies and businesses, will demonstrate.

Throughout the week, the forum will offer, free of charge and in digital format, a series of conferences, panels, lectures and debates to share knowledge, identify opportunities and address the challenges of innovation as a tool and engine to face the future and to find a way out of the Covid-19 crisis.

THE ANSWER

“Innovation. We have realized that this is the answer to the great dilemma we have lived these last ten months. What to prioritize, the economy or health? And clearly innovation is what makes it possible that we do not have to sacrifice any of that,” Rosmary Cornejo, executive director of the Peruvian Ministry of Production’s National Innovation Program for Competitiveness and Productivity – Innovate Peru, explained to Efe.

The organization is responsible for an event which this year will be held at a very complicated moment, but it highlights the interest in innovation as a solution and as a necessary and essential government policy.

“We have already seen in these months that innovation has revived companies, such as home delivery services, which have succeeded despite the pandemic and have served as a tool for many companies to bring products to their customers… innovation is the answer,” Cornejo said.

More than an exchange of information and knowledge, Innovate Peru Summit 2020 seeks to put in contact the stakeholders that form part of the innovation ecosystem, both local and foreign, who will be able to participate free of charge by registering on the event’s website.

“In our first year we sought to put the theme of innovation on the public agenda (…). This was achieved and we had about 1,500 participants, a significant number. This year we want to focus on this new world, on the new situation that nature has presented us, not to withdraw and say that everything is lost, but to see that for every problem, there is an opportunity,” Cornejo said.

This summit aims “to take advantage of the great opportunity” that the crisis offers “for innovation in all fields: health, education, the economy, finance, trade,” the Peruvian said.

GLOBAL AND DIGITAL

In this sense of “opportunity”, Innovate Peru Summit 2020 will be attended by leading international experts in innovation, such as Saul Singer, who will give a presentation on Israel’s entrepreneurial culture, and Harold Salomon from Georgia Tech’s Venture Lab in the United States.

Entrepreneurs from Latin America will also participate, such as the founder and CEO of Platzi, the Colombian Freddy Vega; Mariana Costa, co-founder and CEO of Laboratoria, and Simon Borrero, head of Rappi.

There will also be a space at the forum for public innovation agencies in Latin America to share their experiences and to discuss public policies for the promotion of this new form of the economy.

“Of course, this will be an online meeting, for attendees and participants, but it will be innovative because we have created a physical space, where you can have face-to-face participation in order to make the event more interactive. We want to help everyone take advantage of it,” Cornejo said.

The forum will be divided into seven thematic blocks: disruptive innovation, future companies, disruption in education, financial inclusion and high impact investments, innovation ecosystems and open innovation, innovative MSMEs and public policies on innovation.

The event will also have a virtual fair for services for innovative companies and enterprises, where they can contact the programs and agencies of Peru’s Ministry of Production and public and private sector institutions, dedicated to promoting innovative start-ups. EFE-EPA

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