“The programme has been super practical and very complete…It has allowed us make better decisions with greater security.”

Julio Gallegos, Project Coordinator, Petroperú S.A. 

Challenge 

Peru is a thriving economy that is seeking to prioritise and promote its innovation ecosystem to strengthen its innovation capacity and its support to impact ventures. One of the main challenges it faces is levelling up its regional economies to create a more evolved and interconnected innovation landscape. Currently, funding, growth opportunities and support for ventures are centred in the capital city of Lima which ProInnovate was looking to change. ProInnovate was seeking a tailored training programme that would bring together key stakeholders from academia, government and industry across regions, to strengthen their understanding of innovation management, and build a network of passionate professionals to help drive the countries levelling up agenda and economic growth. 

ProInnovate commissioned this project to build capacities and skills, specifically achieving the following objectives: 

• Strengthen innovation management capacity in cross sector Peruvian Professionals 
• Create long-term, mutually beneficial linkages between Peru and partner country innovators, specialists and researchers 
• Build on the success of previous capacity building programmes to build a critical network of innovation professionals in the country 
• Bring together innovation management training, with expert mentoring support and ideation workshops virtually across a 6-month delivery programme.  

“Working in the university innovation office, our main challenge was to implement a strategy to leverage and connect the university’s R&D&I capabilities with the innovation needs of companies in our region.”

Adriana Sinche, Co-Founder, Chapa tu Beca 

Approach

Oxentia developed an integrated approach to training and mentoring, and delivered in Spanish to include as many people as possible. The training programme was based on supporting each delegate’s development through a clear learning journey, incorporating the skills, tools and techniques that innovation managers need to be successful. The programme was split into the following stages: 

Open call to Peruvians from the public sector, universities and industry. 

The campaign was launched to attract delegates to the ITTP using social media and press releases advertising to recruit delegates from every region of Peru. Oxentia received over 1,600 applications which were evaluated under set criteria to select the 100 most promising candidates for the programme, with these participants going on to complete 8 weeks of remote training. The training programme,  accredited by the Alliance of Technology Transfer Professionals (ATTP), was designed to train ITTP delegates in hard and soft innovation management skills following global best-practice and the latest thinking.

Mentoring stage 

Oxentia asked the ITTP participants to submit a project related to ecosystem development, institutional development, or a certain innovation/technology. Oxentia evaluated and nominated the 20 most relevant projects. An event was then hosted for project leaders to pitch their ideas to the rest of the delegates, followed by a networking event where the teams where formed.

Each team was paired with a mentor to support the development of the project plan. In addition, mentors supported the personal development of the delegates’ innovation management skills, thus enhancing the long-term impact in their own innovation ecosystems.

Concluding event 

The programme ended with each a project team presenting for 3- minutes in front of a panel of international experts. Teams detailed the completion of their proposed objectives, an action plan for the future, along with the tools that they had incorporated and would be able to use further in their professional lives. Participants also explained the bonds they had generated and strengthened throughout the programme. 

“The programme not only provided us with tools and methodologies to reinforce our individual projects, but also allowed us to be part of a co-creation process through group projects in order to receive the opinion and professional experience of our colleagues.” 

Rosakebia L. Estela Mendoza , Digital Marketing Specialist, Mental-Health Trust 

Impact 

Participants had the opportunity to grow their networks by interacting with each other and by providing, and receiving, peer support. During the programme, groups were created on social networks which continued to be active after the end of the programme. Likewise, the delegates were able to widely extend their international connections through the international mentors, as well as Oxentia’s extensive networks. A greater interconnectivity was achieved between delegates by forming cross-sector groups, taken from different regions of  Peru, demonstrating how projects can be created and executed in this way in future. 

Participants demonstrated the acquisition of new skills during this programme, applying the knowledge acquired throughout the initial phase of the programme (ATTP courses) to their projects to achieve their objectives.

We expect that our ITTP alumni will elevate Peru’s innovation ecosystem based on the learnings and new networks generated. 

“The programme has allowed me to have better tools and application criteria, which help with the efficiency and success of the technological process, mitigating inherent risks.” 

Raúl Saldaña, Innovation Lead, Extech – Laboratorio de Innovación Digital