Report
InnovaLatino: Fostering Innovation in Latin America is the result of a collaboration between INSEAD and the OECD Development Centre, and funded by the Fundación Telefónica. The objective of InnovaLatino was to research innovation dynamics in the business and public sectors in Latin America, drawing attention to innovation experiments underway in the region, and advocating greater policy attention to innovation in national development strategies. This InnovaLatino report draws upon new evidence, information and analysis regarding innovation in Latin America. The report presents results from an exclusive survey of over 1500 manufacturing firms from eight countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. The report also brings together over 50 case studies of various firms and organizations identified as innovation leaders in their sectors. Together, these data highlight that innovation means more than catching-up or even leapfrogging by imitating innovative firms from more developed economies. In several revealing cases, Latin American businesses are redefining global business by developing new business models. As regards critical success factors for fostering innovation, the report describes how several countries have institutionalised good practices that create a better environment for innovation. InnovaLatino highlights five aspects of Latin America's economic reality in order to offer important lessons for countries seeking to strengthen their innovation capacity: innovation in a natural-resource-abundant economies; policies to build innovation skills by enhancing formal education and university-business linkages; partnering and cluster policies; innovation and green growth; and the importance of information systems to monitor and assess innovation policies. Latin American economies -- like other emerging markets -- illustrate that our conception of innovation can no longer be limited to the activities of R&D laboratories. In a changing world where emerging economies are rapidly developing and increasing their relevance, Latin America has to be an innovation leader. InnovaLatino: Fostering Innovation in Latin America shows that Latin American organisations offer many examples of successful innovations. Business leaders and public policy makers must focus on multiplying those examples and ensure that innovation at the micro level translates into more productive economies at the macro level.
