Conditional optimism and open innovation / Opinion
Paul Romer, Nobel Prize for Economics, 2018, teaches us that there are two kinds of optimism.
We are taught by Paul Romer, Nobel Prize winner for the Economy of 2018, that there are two types of optimism. The complacent, which is that of a child waiting for gifts, and the conditional, that of a child who is thinking of building a house in a tree: ‘if I get some wood and nails and persuade other children to help make the work, we can finish something really cool. ‘
Since 2010, Colombia has been working on policies to build a more innovative and competitive country. Encouraged by the National Development Plan 2014–2018, more than 4,000 organizations signed the Pact for Innovation. They seek to increase investment in Science, Technology and Innovation, in addition to training and training human talent in new technologies, innovation and market trends.
There is now a new government, and on the day of his inauguration, President Ivan Duque made an important appeal to the creative community: “I want the young people of the country to listen to this carefully: we are committed to boosting the orange economy so that our actors, artists, producers, musicians, designers, publishers, jewelers, playwrights, photographers and digital entertainers conquer new markets, improve their income, undertake successfully, position their talent and attract the eyes of the world.
We live in Colombia a very special moment, because the country, through its governmental institutions, universities, private companies and creative entrepreneurs, makes a great commitment to innovation and collaboration.
We see that the complacent optimism so prevalent in Latin American culture is giving way to a new culture of conditional optimism, where organizations and citizens commit themselves to acting as protagonists of their development.
A clear example of this new era is the success of a joint initiative implemented by 100 Open Startups, an open innovation platform, and Connect Bogotá Region, the most important innovation network in Bogotá and Cundinamarca, making available a network of innovation open that connects enterprises with challenges of big companies and organizations. In less than two years, more than 50 large companies have postulated hundreds of innovation challenges, attracted solutions from more than 1,000 Colombian enterprises and generated close to 3,500 evaluations and feedbacks from executives for entrepreneurs.
As a result, these ventures have signed 40 contracts and received investments, gaining access to previously unavailable opportunities and resources. For large companies, they open a number of options for collaboration and work in partnership to innovate in their products and services.
The alliance between 100 Open Startups and Connect Bogotá Region is celebrated at the Open Innovation Summit, the country’s most important open innovation event, which will connect businesses, universities, entrepreneurs and investors from November 6th. In this space, entrepreneurs and companies meet to meet the supply and demand in innovation.
Bruno Rondani
CEO of 100 Open Start-ups
