Partnership to Promote GovTech in Colombia Through MiLAB

MiLAB, the national government’s public innovation laboratory—operated by iNNpulsa Colombia—works to generate timely responses to an array of public administration challenges, as well as raise awareness about open change and innovation in the sector that improves the relationship between the state and its citizens. ​

As part of the partnership signed with CAF—development Bank of Latin America—, MiLAB becomes the country’s GovTech laboratory. In collaboration with CAF, the lab will design its methodological and operational model, as well as advice the first batch of public entities with prioritized digital transformation challenges—together with the Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation—and strengthen the best solutions that make use of emerging technologies to be implemented by the government, thus continuing to promote interaction with citizens.

To that end, and in order to learn which Colombian startups use disruptive and emerging technologies, MiLAB will carry out the first mapping of such ventures. This exercise will allow the lab to gather information, including which sectors they belong to, in order to connect them to the GovTech community’s activities organized by MiLAB and link them to the main challenges of public innovation.

“A GovTech ecosystem is one where governments collaborate with startups and MSMEs that use data intelligence and technologies to provide goods and services that solve public problems,” iNNpulsa Colombia chairman Ignacio Gaitan said. This partnership with CAF will allow us to help public entities understand their needs in order to design the best open innovation strategies to connect them with problem solvers who make use of these emerging technologies. Gaitan also said that Colombia currently ranks 7th—out of 16—in the GovTech index that includes Latin America, Spain and Portugal. “It will be our goal for the country to move towards better positions,” he added.

“This initiative will help to energize Colombia’s GovTech ecosystem, improve the efficiency of public policies and provide modern and timely public services, thanks to promotion of innovative technological-based initiatives,” CAF representative in Colombia Carolina España said.

The mapped solutions will be part of the first GovTech Colombia community, through which aspiring participants may access events and activities focused on strengthening this ecosystem, participating in calls for GovTech challenges managed by MiLAB in partnership with public entities, as well as access a variety of programs to strengthen and scale their technological solutions, among other benefits.

To date, MiLAB has provided advice to 11 public entities in the process of determining their needs and connecting with an ecosystem of problem solvers. The main challenges addressed include:

• Implementation of renewable energy initiatives for the country’s Non-Interconnected Zones (with Guajira set to be the first region to implement the project).
• Development through technological innovations, in addition to access and use of deposit and credit products for MSMEs and demograhics earning less than two minimum wages.
• Reduction of eye accidents resulting from the specialized banana harvesting and production process in the Urabá region.

This type of support to regional, national and subnational governments is one of the services that CAF offers in the govtech capacity. According to the 2020 GovTech Index, which measures the use of digital solutions in the public sector and the maturity of innovative ventures that add value to government management, Colombia is among the 10 highest-scoring Ibero-American countries.

For more information and to participate in the lab’s GovTech solution mapping, click on the following link:  innpulsacolombia.com/milab