SANTIAGO – The project of the creation of a new ministry in Chile is in its final phase. On Monday, President Sebastián Piñera appointed Andrés Couve Correa as the first Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation. Carolina Torrealba Ruiz-Tagle will be his undersecretary.
The project of creating a Ministry of Science and Technology started during the first term of Sebastián Piñera and got its current form during the last term of Michelle Bachelet. Now, in the first year of the second Piñera administration, it looks like Chile will get its 22nd ministry, not counting the general secretaries of the president and the government.
The Ministry of Science and Technology, which aims to further develop the academic world in Chile and stimulate innovative projects, will be led by Andrés Couve (49), one of the academics who promoted the creation of the new ministry in the various administrations the project went through.
Couve was the head of the Millennium Institute of Biomedical Neuroscience and will be supported by undersecretary Carolina Torrealba Ruiz-Tagle.
She was executive director of the Millennium Scientific Initiative and was part of the directorate of the Young Science Foundation.
Chilecon Valley
For the last couple of years, Chile has been trying to promote itself as innovative and technological hub in Latin-America. Chile´s start-up incubator Start Up Chile has been praised globally for creating the perfect environment for entrepreneurs, earning Chile the name of Chilecon Valley.
Currently, Chile is the most innovative country in Latin-America, according to the Global Innovation Index, and Chile has one of the highest rates when it comes to entrepreneurs starting up new companies. The creation of the Ministry of Technology is the next step in further developing this “start-up ecosystem” that should give the country the ability to compete on a global level.
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Editor-In-Chief Boris van der Spek is the founder of Chile Today.