Entering the design phase of our Global Innovation Policy Accelerator with full force, the team travelled to Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile over two weeks in April, in a marathon-like performance, to meet with as many potential participants to the programme as possible.

What this trip was all about

The aim of the trip was to meet with the four national ‘champions’ (a single agency in each of the national systems taking the lead in coordinating the participant selection process), with potential agencies and participants across each of the four systems, and answer any questions or concerns about the programme. Some of the agencies we met with include CORFO in Chile, Colciencias in Colombia, the Productivity Unit of the Ministry of Finance in Mexico, and CONCYTEC in Peru.

Because we are designing an action-focused programme, we also wanted every stakeholder and institution to think about challenge areas they might want to work on as a national cohort, and how that could fit with national priorities in innovation policy design and implementation. The trip was a great opportunity to start surveying the kind of topics generating interest among policymakers, for example around roadmapping or evaluation techniques for innovation policy.

The programme raised a lot of enthusiasm among key stakeholders and we were delighted to ensure the buy-in of around 25 different agencies and more than 29 very senior policymakers across the Pacific Alliance.

What the Global Innovation Policy Accelerator is all about

We are partnering with Innovate UK and a unique team of academic, public and private sector organisations to lead the design and delivery of a brand new tailor-made development programme for innovation policymakers in the four countries of the Pacific Alliance.

The Global Innovation Policy Accelerator is funded through the UK government’s Newton Fund and we aim to deliver executive development to national cohorts of senior policymakers from the main innovation institutions, while strengthening the implementation capabilities of their teams. This programme has the potential to make a real difference to national innovation systems and drive greater inclusive economic development.

For more information about the Global Innovation Policy Accelerator, do not hesitate to get in touch with us.