CONCYTEC and STEPI successfully concluded Workshop on Disseminating Preliminary Results of Technology Roadmap

On October 19th, the successful culmination of the Workshop on Disseminating Preliminary Results of Technology Roadmap for Peru took place, a highly significant event that saw the active participation of both Peruvian and Korean experts. During this conference, the presentation of technological trends, challenges, and opportunities promised to play a pivotal role in the mid and long-term development of the country, across six key industries involved in the production of relevant goods and services: Agribusiness, Advanced Manufacturing, Mining and New Materials, Textiles and Apparel, Creative Industry, and Forestry.

This Dissemination Workshop is part of the "S&T Planning and Technological Forecasting for Prioritized Sectors" project under the K-Innovation Partnership Program (2022-2024), conducted by the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) of the Republic of Korea, in collaboration with CONCYTEC. Additionally, it is supported by the State University of New York (SUNY) in the Republic of Korea.

The preliminary results presented on October 19th were a product of workshops held from October 16th to 18th, with the objective of formulating a preliminary Technological Roadmap in the six prioritized sectors. Throughout these sessions, both Peruvian and Korean experts actively engaged in discussions regarding the outcomes of the Delphi survey conducted from July 13th to August 15th, 2023. The survey involved the voluntary participation of 270 experts across the six priority industries: Agribusiness (66), Advanced Manufacturing (47), Mining and New Materials (47), Textiles and Apparel (47), Creative Industry (39), and Forestry (24). It's worth noting that the surveyed experts primarily represented the Academic (58%), Private (26%), and Public (13%) sectors. More than 50% of participants have over a decade experience in these domains.

The Workshop on Disseminating Preliminary Results of Technology Roadmap for Peru opened with welcoming remarks from Agnes Franco Temple, Director of Research and Studies at CONCYTEC; Hanil Cheon, Minister of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Peru; and Domingo Gonzales, Administrative Vice-Rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

Throughout the conference, progress on the project was presented by ChiUng Song (Lead Researcher at STEPI) and Agnes Franco. Dr. Sehee Park (CTO of Deliverdy, Korea) elaborated on the methodology of the Technological Roadmap and outlined the forthcoming stages in the project.

The presentation of the preliminary Technological Roadmap for the six prioritized industries was carried out by a group of Peruvian experts focusing on the economic standing, relevance within the National Strategic Development Plan (PEDN) 2050, the Technological Foresight Study (including STEEP analysis and trends), technological evaluation based on the Delphi survey, which considered technical capacity and economic significance. Furthermore, the leading country in each industry was identified, also the expected timeframes for technologies to be widely available in both the leading country and Peru were established. Gaps between the two were identified, and prioritized policy measures and acquisition methods were delineated. A preliminary roadmap for investment in research and development (R&D) was also presented for each of the six priority industries.

The Dissemination Workshop was concluded by Johng-Ihl Lee, Professor at SUNY, who expressed his gratitude to the 270 experts who participated in the Delphi survey, as well as the 15 participants who contributed to the preliminary development of the Technological Roadmap and the experts who led the presentations. He highlighted that among the 270 experts, one technology stood out: Artificial Intelligence, which holds significant potential for Peru's development. Additionally, he announced that collaboration with CONCYTEC would continue in the coming year, with a focus on launching research and development programs.

Upon the event's conclusion, Agnes Franco shared the conclusions reached and emphasized that the next step is to "identify the barriers and potentialities within the six analyzed industries to define and select the technologies that will help us bridge the technological and developmental gaps in Peru." She underscored the vital support provided by STEPI in this phase, highlighting the importance of the knowledge and expertise of Korean experts on crafting technological policies.

The Workshop on Disseminating Preliminary Results of the Technology Roadmap was co-organized in collaboration with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and took place at the PUCP Cultural Center.