The Union of Computer Scientists of Cuba leads the co-Lab initiative, a digital innovation project with laboratories in five Cuban provinces that promotes co-creation and collaborative learning, focusing on digital solutions that respond to local needs Since 2021, the Union of Computer Scientists of Cuba (UIC) has implemented the co-Lab initiative in the country, which emerged within the framework of the cooperation project co-financed by the European Union “Innovation laboratories for digital transformation in the cultural sector”, with the support of Tecnalia, the Research and Innovation Foundation of the Basque Country.
Tatiana Delgado Fernández, vice president of Innovation at the UIC, tells this newspaper about how the first co-Lab laboratories came about, which were set up in five provinces: Pinar del Río, Mayabeque, Cienfuegos, Camagüey and Las Tunas.
According to Delgado Fernández, the UIC —which will celebrate its ninth anniversary on March 8— “has a fundamental role in the Cuban Digital Agenda until 2030, as the organization that brings together digital technology professionals throughout the country and for its role of articulation and mediation between all the actors in the digital innovation ecosystem.”
The co-Lab Laboratories, promoted by the UIC, are a key initiative to promote digital innovation in the country. These spaces, whether physical or virtual, function as co-creation and learning platforms, with the purpose of fostering a culture of open and collaborative innovation.
Its main focus is on citizens based on innovative digital solutions through the creation of prototypes and minimum viable products. This approach stimulates creativity and facilitates the implementation of projects that respond to local needs, explains the expert.
In the Cuban context, co-Lab has established itself as an innovation management model that complements the efforts of companies linked to universities and scientific-technological parks. Its impact is reflected in local development and the digital transformation of territories. —How does co-Lab seek to impact the Cuban economy through the development of digital technologies?
—Digital technologies are evolving at a dizzying speed. This brings with it the need for more experiential innovation, which makes it easier to try before investing. It also presupposes collaboration between multiple actors to achieve higher quality products in the time required by the dynamic nature of digital transformation. Co-Labs, by their nature as laboratories, contribute to the experimentation of emerging digital technologies, even disruptive in some cases, first on a small scale and then introducing them into practice with greater effectiveness and efficiency.
«Through the use of co-creation techniques and the participation of multiple actors, with a focus on citizens, co-Lab represents the first mile of R&D&I, providing prototypes of digital solutions that are iteratively tested with the beneficiaries themselves and the rest of the innovation ecosystem involved, to facilitate the generation of sustainable solutions to the problems of the economy and society.»
Delgado Fernández points out that co-Lab promotes cultural change in its innovation ecosystem by being a dynamic learning space in which mentors and innovators foster a collaborative and digital mindset. Through participatory and transdisciplinary approaches, focused on citizens, they promote local solutions that impact both innovators and citizens and early adopters, facilitating digital and cultural transformation.
—What specific tools do you offer to improve connectivity and impact on multiple entities in the network of local actors?
—Creating and fostering innovation ecosystems is an objective implicit in the very essence of co-Lab. To do so, principles of transparency and collaborative participation are followed from the moment the call is launched to start an open innovation management process, based on a challenge or problem that has been identified, and then in each process within the innovation management flow.
Thus, he comments that among other results, the CoInnova collaborative innovation platform was developed, a web tool to manage technological innovation processes, focused on challenges, innovative ideas and prototypes of digital solutions. Currently, it is in use at co-Lab Camagüey, the most active laboratory, where dozens of prototypes have been created, many of which have already been scaled in the region.
—What are the main challenges that Co-Lab faces in its implementation, especially in a context of technological or economic limitations?
—There are obviously technological limitations. Often, to face the challenges of innovation in co-Lab Laboratories, inputs are needed, the access to which is difficult. The lack of accessibility is not only an economic issue, because every day these materials and components are cheaper in the international market, but also because there is no capacity to acquire them locally.
«The economic, commercial and financial blockade of the USA imposes multiple limitations on us that negatively influence all areas of life in the country, and logically also affects co-Lab Laboratories. However, I do not consider that the challenges are mainly of that nature. co-Lab faces cultural challenges. It is important that the teams in our Laboratories combine hard and soft skills that contribute to not losing the essence of spaces for collaboration and learning. It is a risk that co-Lab is seen as a “software factory”, for that there is a software industry. The prototypes, minimum viable products and digital solutions produced in co-Lab are the result of a process of collaboration between multiple actors, and the UIC functions in this case as an articulator and facilitator. The essence of open and collaborative innovation in co-Lab must not be lost.
«In this context, other challenges are identified, such as how to manage intellectual property in this type of co-creation, which business models would be most appropriate for this type of collaborative solution; how to articulate the value chain so that the prototypes or minimum viable products obtained can be scaled for the beneficiary.»
—What type of data or emerging technologies are being prioritized in co-Lab projects?
In its more than three years of operation, the projects have used several emerging digital technologies. The project itself that saw them born encouraged challenges oriented to the Internet of Things, based on the acquisition of Arduino, Raspberry Pi boards and sensors for experimentation, which was used in the different laboratories to impact with innovative solutions in the museums or cultural entities of the territories.
In addition, co-Lab has attracted innovators who have developed prototypes with other emerging digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual and Augmented Reality and Avatars, among others, and have converged on solutions for Smart Cities, Industry 4.0, and other areas, such as agriculture and smart tourism. —
What future opportunities does the UIC envision to expand the reach of Co-Lab and other digital innovation projects?
—Under the leadership of the UIC, the co-Lab Laboratories are called to be replicated and generalized in the rest of the Cuban provinces.
The learnings, methodologies and consolidation of the processes that the network has achieved are the basis for this deployment. A natural specialization is also seen in some laboratories, for example co-Lab Las Tunas has a marked focus on working to close gender gaps in relation to ICT.
«A new Frida cooperation project is underway within co-Lab Las Tunas, financed by Lacnic, whose objectives go in this direction and with an impact on rural communities and where the beneficiaries are women and girls. co-Lab Pinar del Río has also specialized in working with people in vulnerable situations such as the elderly.
«Camagüey, on the other hand, has a broader range of areas of impact, although it has promoted many topics such as virtual/augmented reality and immersive spaces. There are numerous opportunities to expand co-Lab not only within the UIC but in alliance with other actors such as, for example, the Youth Computer and Electronics Clubs.
«Beyond co-Lab, the UIC plays a very active role in the Digital Innovation Axis of the Cuban Digital Agenda to 2030. New projects are being promoted to develop, for example, Artificial Intelligence Sandboxes, Digital Innovation Nodes and other co-creation spaces in support of entrepreneurs and new economic actors in the ICT sector. In this challenging future, we are working in alliance with the Havana Science and Technology Park, the Mincom and other entities to offer an accelerated impact, as a country, to the digital transformation through innovation.»
Source: www.juventudrebelde.cu
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