Second Edition of CAF “Innovation Routes” in Panama

CAF Development Bank of Latin America and Incubba—the EIA University Patent and Technology incubator—organized the second edition of the Innovation Routes Workshop in Panama City, an initiative attended by 11 groups of participants, for a total of 21 groups trained in innovation skills.

The event was held on June from 3–7, 2019, bringing together representatives of Panamanian companies, universities, think tanks and associations, who were part of the CAF Intensive Workshops for Accelerated Patent Development and the CAF-SENACYT patenting project, which resulted in 125 patent applications at the National Office and via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), a remarkable figure for the country.

The CAF Innovation Routes workshops are a tool to strengthen support for technological innovation for Panama’s institutions working with patenting processes. This training seeks to close the cycle of protection and marketing of conceptualized technologies, as a follow-up to the work developed by the CAF Method for Accelerated Patent Development.

The theoretical-practical workshop featured Jairo Tiusabá, head of CAF Directorate of Private Sector Analysis and Technical Evaluation, Helen Casanova, Officer at the CAF Directorate of Private Sector Analysis and Technical Evaluation and the technical contribution of consultants with expertise in the area of technological innovation from Incubba, the Incubator of Patents and Technologies from the EIA University (Medellin, Colombia).

During the second workshop, academic representatives included the Technology University of Panama, the University of Panama, the Autonomous University of Chiriquí and the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga, and for the industrial sector, ENSA, Action Hub, the Gendiagnostik Center and AMUPA. Another edition of the “Innovation Routes” workshop is expected to be held in the second half of the year in Asunción, Paraguay.