Success stories of AMERICAS and long-term community engagement
(through PRO-IDEAL and PRO-IDEAL PLUS projects)
1 Project Angels Success Stories
AMERICAS Summer Schools continued training and recruiting experts (“Angels”) and thus
strengthening the network of Project Angels in Latin America.
Short history: In 2008, with the start of the PRO-IDEAL project (PROmotion of an ICT
Dialogue between Europe and America Latina; http://www.pro-ideal.eu), the “Project Angels”
were created. The idea behind was two-fold: to “coach the coaches” for a better integration of
LA partners in EU ICT projects through local intermediaries, and to create a sustainable
network of persons knowledgeable in EU programmes, that can benefit from their training as
Project Angels, also for their own career. The project covered Argentina, Brazil, Chile and
Uruguay from the LA side.
A follow-up project, PRO-IDEAL PLUS extended the target countries to Colombia, Mexico, Costa
Rica and Cuba. The Project Angels network was extended accordingly to these countries.
The AMERICAS project consolidated this network and put in place Project Angels Summer
Schools, adding new participants to the training and also allowing the more senior members to
share their expertise with the new Project Angels. Furthermore, the AMERICAS project was the
moment when the senior members were able to become players of international cooperation
community.
Methodology: During both PRO-IDEAL projects, the Project Angels coaching courses were
kicked-off at a face-to-face workshop and continued with on-line modules: one module plus
exercise by month. While at the beginning, 1 Year courses with 12 modules were carried
out, it proved to be too long. Therefore, the course was shortened to 7 months with 7 modules,
and exercises were more structured and with less free text. For AMERICAS, the methodology
was changed. Two Summer schools, lasting two days, were preceded by preparatory modules
on-line and follow-up webinars.
Results: At the end of the AMERICAS project, the network of Project Angels brings together an
overall number of 46 active Project Angels (not counting the project partners) from LAC target
countries: see http://www.americasportal.eu/content/project-angels
Success stories per country
ARGENTINA
From the very beginning, Argentina fostered the Project Angels network and through on-site
workshops, the incentive was big to participate.
a) Alejandra Davidziuk
She works as a Project Officer in the Liaison Office Argentina – European – Union at the
National Directorate of International Relations, Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive
Innovation (MINCyT), carrying out technical support to general project management. She is
involved in different international cooperation projects in which MINCyT takes part to
disseminate FP7/Horizon 2020 opportunities, such as LEADERSHIP, ENSOCIO-LA, Ideal-ist
2014, and ABEST III.
In order to motivate and support the Argentinean Project Angel team during the second part of
the PRO-IDEAL project, MINCyT designated a local coordinator for the course. This person,
Alejandra Davidziuk, has taken and finished the course during its first edition to be in charge of
reply questions and help the participants with their exercises in the second and third editions.
A. Davidziuk receiving her Project Angel diploma at the EU-LAC Gateway networking session ICT2010
Taking the course was very important for her to know better the ICT calls and the mechanism
to promote the Third Country participation. This experience enriched her work in the Liaison
Office and expanded her knowledge to collaborate in enhancing technical cooperation activities
in science, technology and innovation both the EU and in the member countries.
As Coordinator of the local Project Angels, she was very active in giving support through
telephone, emails and several face-to-face meetings.
During the different editions of the Project Angels’ courses (PRO-IDEAL, PRO-IDEAL PLUS and
AMERICAS projects), there were a very high level of interest in different people involved in
universities, UVT offices and other kind of technology transfer units. Listen to her PA
testimonial: http://youtu.be/krqjTnu4V58.
b) Martin Virdis
In 2008 he founded EconTec, a consultancy firm to support high tech entrepreneurs. In the
past twelve years,
he worked as consultant in the fields of economics and tech entrepreneurship for the Ministry
of Economy and Production of Argentina, Buenos Aires City Government, National Agency for
the Promotion of Science and Technology (Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive
Innovation) and Universidad Nacional del Sur.
He was a research analyst of Euromonitor international (2009-2011). Since 2009 he has been
an Entrepreneur Mentor at BidNetwork, Premios Mayma and The Entrepreneurship Center of
the Professional Council of Economic Sciences of Buenos Aires.
Martín joined the first Project Angel coaching course in 2009 and he finally received his Project
Angel certification on March 2011. The Project Angel course provided him an in-depth
understanding about EU R&D programme principles and funding mechanism, and a solid
network of specialists in Europe and Latin America.
On September 3th 2010, he attended to an Info Day & Round Table to foster Argentina –
Europe cooperation in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) held in Buenos Aires.
The meeting provided in-depth knowledge on the EU funding mechanisms comprised under the
ICT Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and offers guidelines on the status of ICT policy
development and priorities in Argentina.
Through the efforts of Martin, in January 2012 the Agency of Science and Technology of Bahía
Blanca joined the Pro-ideal Plus Platform as a support organization to promote, encourage and
facilitate the integration of local partners in EU projects.
On January 2012, Martín, as Project and Strategies Manager of the Agency of Science and
Technology of the city of Bahía Blanca, had the chance of preparing an ICT proposal along with
15 partners from Europe and 4 from Latin America.
He was actively involved in preparing the project proposal. The proposal "Future Internet of Things"
(WeFIT), a CSA-CA project, was submitted under the call FP7-REGIONS-2012-2013-1. Though the
proposal obtained the minimum threshold score (10.5/15) it could not be retained for funding for
insufficient budget. Although the project was not funded, it was an invaluable experience that will
be used in future projects.
Martín was an actively participant (Project Angel testimony) of The AMERICAS first Summer
School which took place on 5-6 July 2012 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He had the opportunity
to share his experience with present and future Project Angels.
Project Angels Summer School 2012, M. Virdis second from right (first row)
Listen to his PA testimonia: http://youtu.be/SQvq1f5OrQA
Martin included the link to his PA testimonial also to his LinkedIn profile.
BRAZIL
During PRO-IDEAL and PRO-IDEAL PLUS, the University of Sao Paulo supported the Project
Angels network strongly, in particular through its “City of Knowledge” department. It created
the Project Angels Incubator (PAI), generating a number of project ideas for ICT (e.g. for
content in new audiovisual media and creative currencies). This intense research leveraged by
PRO-IDEAL PLUS events were funded beyond FP7 resources as the “City of Knowledge”
research group became a hub-incubator for new project ideas in events, research projects and
media production partnering with the National Bank for Social and Economic Development
(BNDES), as well as other key Science and Technology Funding agencies such as CGI.br
(Brazilian Internet Steering Committee), CNPq (National Scientific Council), FINEP (Ministry of
Science and Technology), FUNARTE – Ministry of Culture.
Leandro Ciuffo (RNP)
He continuously collaborated with the Project Angels network and provided the RNP Webinar
tool for the Project Angels Webinars.
He intensified his knowledge of EU programmes and helped RNP participating in the
coordinated call Brazil-EU in FP7.
CHILE
a) Annika Schüttler
She was our first Project Angel in Chile. After the course, she made contacts to CODELCO,
Chile’s biggest copper industry player, for a EU project on the Internet of Things (that in the
end did not materialize). She became entrepreneur, together with Humberto Salinas (who
started as Project Angel but did not finish the course) and together they created
EmprendoVerde, the first network of sustainable enterprises in Chile.
http://www.emprendoverde.cl/
She obtained funds from CORFO and collaborates closely with Europe, in particular Germany,
due to her German origins. EMF collaborates with EmpredoVerde through its network of Green
IT enterprises and associations, e.g. “Green Tuesday” in Paris.
b) Rodrigo Stanger
Second Project Angel in Chile with diploma, he is technician and inventor. After his Project
Angel course, he created his company MUMIKO that produced a digital music instrument,
mainly for therapeutic support of the impaired. He won the prize of “Smart App incubator” of
LG Group.
COLOMBIA
a) Andrés Navarro (Universidad ICESI)
He was one of the first Colombian Project Angels and participated as “testimony” in the
AMERICAS Summer School (see his presentation20).
Amongst other activities he put together the ETNAtv project (Evolution of digital TV in the
Americas) in Call 9, ICT 2011.10.3 International cooperation, a SICA with partners from Spain,
Italy, Colombia and Panama. Furthermore, he brought together 2 German and 2 Colombian
universities for collaboration in the framework of the DFG (German Research Foundation;
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).
b) Mauricio Montenegro (CINTEL)
He was the second Project Angels that participated as “testimony” in the AMERICAS Summer
School (see his presentation21)
He started and put together the following proposals:
- Call: FP7-SPACE-2010-1
Name: Collaborative Advances in Remote sensing Technologies Applied to GMES Services in
Europe and New services from challenges in the Americas(CARTAGENA); 4 partners Europe, 2
LA
Evaluation score: 10 (too low for funding but above threshold)
- Call: FP7-ICT-2011-9
Name: Developing ICT solutions for E-inclusion in Low and middle income countries through
Transnational Alliances (DELTA); 3 partners Europe, 3 partners L
Evaluation score: 10.5 (too low for funding but above threshold)
He emphasized that the practical value in bringing together a project team and writing a
proposal is invaluable and he will continue using this experience for future projects.
COSTA RICA
a) Patricia Sanchez (University of Costa Rica)
She finished the Project Angel course with the diploma and since then, used her knowledge
proactively. Upon suggestion of PRO-IDEAL PLUS, she applied for and received a scholarship of
the ENLACE project to participate in ICT-relevant events in Europe, e.g. the EULARINET ICT
event.
She started working in the framework of ECADERT - "Estrategia centroamericana de desarrollo
rural territorial”, to implement added value processes for geographical and geospatial
information of organic food producers, women groups in artisanal works and SMEs for capacity
building and putting their products on the market, to improve living conditions and to
implement a fair price policy.
She promotes the use of ICT for agriculture and sustainable alimentation, for example in
collaboration with coffee plantations declared UNESCO human patrimony in the region of
Pereira, Colombia. Currently, she is planning a project proposal for H2020 in the area of ICT for
food security, together with an Italian partner. Furthermore, she runs on Facebook “Convivium
Slow food Costa Rica23” where she promotes sustainable gastronomy for the benefit of local
shops.
2 Collaborative R&I Communities Success Stories
The initial situation
The FP7-ICT Work Programme has represented a tremendous opportunity for Latin America to
participate as equal in international cooperation projects. However, expectations have not
always been met and the overall participation of Latin America in ICT and e-Infrastructures
projects is still lagging behind their potential, despite the efforts to increase collaboration,
through a set of targeted opening areas, such as Computing Systems, ICT for smart and
personalised inclusion, international cooperation on FET research, and international partnership
building, as well as coordinated calls with Brazil. In spite of the interest of Latin America
researchers to participate in ICT R&D projects in partnership with the EU, there are still some
important barriers that need to be overcome, mainly those related to the access to key
information about the ICT programme, understanding of the rules for participating, and
searching for partners for ICT R&D cooperation between Latin America and Europe.
Results from the ICT Forum Chile: Community-based R&I
The ICT Forum in Santiago took place on 16 March 2012, just before the EU-LAC Senior
Officials Meeting (SOM) held in Concepción, Chile. It was a co-creative and interactive
workshop intended to support the EU-LAC SOM ICT Working Group for Societal Challenges and
to encourage the emergence of pilot initiatives and concrete proposals around the four topics of
the ICT WG: ICT for inclusion, ICT for health, Intelligent Transport Systems and Living Labs.
Two core methodologies were used to engage the participants: the Digital Mosaic (MODI’) and
Rapid Prototyping, in combination with key note elevator pitch presentations.
The Forum involved over 50 key stakeholders from the four key areas addressed, including
research organizations, companies, institutions, authorities and funding agencies that play an
active role in R&I in ICT.
“I found the Forum methodology excellent and it generated really interesting results, with focused and
achievable proposals. Also, the work atmosphere was pleasant and friendly, and people were really
collaborative. In summary, one of the best workshops I have participated in”
Daniel Hormazábal – SOLVIT, Chile
Through the application of these interactive co-creation methodologies, more than 100
emerging ideas, networking and new connections created. Discussions on opportunities for
collaborative R&I around the four topics selected were led by Latin American experts.
ICT for inclusion
Oliver Flögel, Executive Secretary for Digital Development of the Ministry of Transport and
Telecommunications of Chile, introduced the digital situation of the country. Before joining the
public sector in 2011, Oliver worked for Grupo Telefónica since 1995. He also led the
integration of two mobile companies in Chile – Telefónica Móvil and Bellsouth – and became
the CEO of Telefónica Chile, position that allowed him to establish links with his passions:
entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. A clear example of Oliver’s influence is the
creation of the first private business incubator in Chile, “Movistar Innova”. Oliver opened the
discussion on e-Inclusion in Chile with the following question: Which segments of population
should be our priority for digital inclusion in Chile?
Common themes and patterns found: vulnerability, children, teachers, rural sectors, processes,
education, motivation, young students, organised communities and social demand.
ICT for health
Sergio König, President of HL7 Chile and Executive Coordinator of HL7 LATAM, introduced the
e-health scenario in Chile. Graduate from the University of Cordoba, School of Medicine in 1985,
Sergio has worked in public, private and intergovernmental Healthcare Institutions in Argentina,
Chile and Peru, and as a consultant for international and private organizations, and multilateral
agencies.
Sergio opened the discussion on e-health in Chile with the following question: Which are the
problems and the challenges that could be faced by ICT in order to provide better care for
people?
Common themes and patterns found: prevention, access to excellence, management of
medical hours, integrated and secure medical records, telemedicine, remote monitoring,
personal data protection, IPR of medical data, empowerment of the patient.
Intelligent Transport Systems
Jorge Minteguiaga, President of ITS Chile and Vice-President at Latin America Division of the
International Association of Public Transport (UITP), introduced the situation of ITS in Chile
with examples on mobility optimisation in different cities. Since 1996, Jorge has managed
several ITS projects at major cities of Chile, mostly related to GPS Fleet Monitoring, Passenger
Counting and Fare Collection Systems in Public Transport companies.
Jorge opened the discussion with the following question: Which are the main challenges of ITS
in order to improve mobility in Latin-American cities?
Common themes and patterns found: integration, prediction, autonomous systems, user
information, social network, crowdsourcing, fleet control, telecommuting, standardization,
planning, regulation, logistics, interoperability, massive public transport, car-pooling, and
metrics.
Living Labs
Héctor Torres, Director at the Programme of Technologic Prospective and Innovation
(ProteinLab UTEM) introduced the situation of Living Labs in LAC. Héctor is an industrial
designer that leads this interdisciplinary Research Group of the Universidad Tecnológica
Metropolitana. ProteinLab develops products, applications and services in the following areas:
ICT and Innovation, Connectivity and Access Digital Design, Interaction and Smart
Environments and Sustainable Energy.
Héctor opened the discussion with the following question: Where do we need Living Labs?
Common themes and patterns found: public policy solutions, community, services, education,
social networks, ownership, synergies, sustainability, excluded areas, vulnerable communities,
local development, technological democracy, market, energy.
The ideas, pilot initiatives and networking emerging from the co-creative ICT Forum fed the
SOM ICT WG and are aligned with current ICT priorities for meeting societal challenges, namely
the creation of networks of Living Labs and social inclusion in health.
3 Fostering the EU ICT Policy Dialogue
AMERICAS ‘s partner EMF was invited to participate in the EU-CELAC Summit/Academic
Summit in January 2013 in Santiago de Chile, chairing the session on bringing the academic
world and the world of business together. This is a non-trivial task as both worlds have
different priorities and therefore, think differently. Only common goals brings them together
(lke, e.g. EU projects). For details about the event, see
http://www.americasportal.eu/content/1st-eu-celac-7th-eu-lac-summit-2013-santiago-dechile-summary
The Declaration of Santiago, signed at the end of the event, takes into consideration the
efforts of approaching the productive sector and the academic world, and, last but not least,
mentions ICT as important facilitator for research, education and inclusion.
4 e-Infrastructures and AMERICAS
AMERICAS fostered the collaboration between the ICT sector and e-Infrastructures: The term
e-Infrastructure refers to this new research environment in which all researchers - whether
working in the context of their home institutions or in national or multinational scientific
initiatives - have shared access to unique or distributed scientific facilities (including data,
instruments, computing and communications), regardless of their type and location in the
world.
For more details see: http://www.americasportal.eu/content/e-infrastructures