Fuelling a National Innovation System in Colombia

Abstract

This presentation of the innovation-driven environment in Colombia derives from important national efforts to gather and store pertinent information. Two large surveys have tested the ‘innovative behaviour’ of Colombian manufacturing firms – the more recent of these was in 2005. Another information source is the Scienti platform, an online effort to collect and store information about research and researchers nationwide. Finally there is the SNIES, the national higher education information system which inventories curricula, admission criteria, study costs, physical resources, research activities, teachers and students of all institutions of higher education in the country. Although all of these instruments have their problems and are still in their consolidation phases, they constitute an invaluable asset for the country's scientific policy making.