Today marks one month since Dr. Gustavo Núñez Acuña, a researcher with more than 10 years of experience in biotechnology and sustainability, with a focus on marine ecosystems, took office as regional secretary of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation (CTCI) for the central-southern macro-zone (from O’Higgins to Biobío).
The engineer in Marine Biotechnology and Aquaculture stated that the main challenge of the portfolio in Ñuble is the strengthening of the CTCI ecosystem, for which he stated that “the work with the Regional Government and the different ministerial portfolios is key in order to promote regional productivity, in addition to achieving the articulation of the ecosystem of Biobío and Ñuble, where, aware of the similarities and differences of both regions, it is possible that the potential of Ñuble added to the strengths of Biobío allow for collaborative work in R&D&I”.
He stated, “We believe that in Ñuble we have a fairly large potential to diversify the productive matrix and in that, science and technology are very relevant actors.”
Similarly, she warned that, “there are barriers to innovation in the region, such as lack of financing for R&D&I, scarce qualified human capital, weakness in association between companies, academia and government, low demand for R&D&I by MSMEs, where women are the most affected and lack of knowledge and difficulties in accessing development funds by companies, but despite these weaknesses, there is a presence of highly innovative companies in the agricultural, manufacturing, tourism and information technology sectors.”
Execution of plans
Along these lines, Dr. Núñez commented: “We have been in close contact with regional authorities (…) We are developing plans to be able to, from different initiatives of the Ministry and, at the same time, also in collaboration, for example, with the Regional Government, see how we are going to strengthen this ecosystem.”
“These are plans that have been designed and now we have to begin their execution,” said the authority, who announced that they are working “directly with the macro-regional node, which is financed by ANID, to be able to identify the key actors, both from the productive sector as well as from the public sector, to strengthen this initiative; there we recognize key sectors, such as agriculture, fruit and vegetables, wine, niche tourism and the information and communication technology (ICT) services industry. Within these five clusters, the idea is, through our various initiatives, in conjunction with other public agencies, to promote science and technology, understanding them as development engines for these sectors.”
The regional minister also highlighted the importance of the link with the academy, as well as the role of the Regional Government, which “is a key player, leading the CTCI Committee, in which we participate; in addition, the Regional Government has developed a regional CTCI strategy, together with the World Bank, in which a rather ambitious roadmap was established and its implementation is planned to begin now, and there the Regional Government has an important role in terms of obtaining financing.”
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