TOWARDS A NATIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVENESSVOLUME 1Public Pro-innovation Institutional FrameworkIn the public domain, Chile has an institutional framework that serves as the basis of the National InnovationSystem. There we can find bodies responsible for funding and supporting the activities that universities, companies,technological Institutes and other players <strong>en</strong>gage in, in various spheres of the innovation process.The most relevant institutions are the Ministries of the Economy and Education, which control the ProductionDevelopm<strong>en</strong>t Corporation (Corfo) and the National Commission of Sci<strong>en</strong>tific and Technological Research (Conicyt),respectively, which have be<strong>en</strong> defined by the Council as the two pillars that must support the public institutionalframework for innovation. The Ministries of Agriculture, Planning and Health are also included in this list in areas specificto their sector, as well as others with lower levels of participation in the system.Each of these institutions has specially designed programs for fostering various spheres of the participationprocess. The funding comes from public resources, managed by each institution, targeted at supporting specific activitiesin their own spheres. Corfo, in its innovation division, focuses on technological innovation in firms, technological transferand diffusion, pre-competitive and public interest innovation, innovative <strong>en</strong>trepr<strong>en</strong>eurship and attracting high technologyinvestm<strong>en</strong>ts. Meanwhile, Conicyt is dedicated to fostering and str<strong>en</strong>gth<strong>en</strong>ing sci<strong>en</strong>tific and technological research,forming specialized human resources and developing new areas of knowledge and production innovation.This is the base on which a future system should be built, perfecting its strategic direction, coordination andintegration both within the funding system and in relation to the whole national innovation system.113
TOWARDS A NATIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVENESSVOLUME 1RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTIONThe transition towards a Knowledge Economy and the need for a joint <strong>en</strong>deavour by the public and private sectors in the g<strong>en</strong>eration of innovationrequires an institutional framework that guarantees the coher<strong>en</strong>ce of the system and that allows the strategic objectives to be defined towards which allplayers must progress in a coordinated and collaborative manner.An effici<strong>en</strong>t institutional solution necessarily requires a clear separation betwe<strong>en</strong>, on the one hand, the responsibility for proposing a design and amodel for tracking pro-Knowledge Economy policies and, on the other hand, the task of orchestrating and executing the policies.Ensuring the governability of the system and g<strong>en</strong>erating an institutional structure that guides, coordinates and synchronizes pro-innovation publicpolicies is indisp<strong>en</strong>sable to create a National Strategy of Innovation for Competitiv<strong>en</strong>ess.The path to innovation requires leadership at the highest level, which integrates the various perspectives that converge in innovation and cannot betrapped by short-term pressures and urg<strong>en</strong>cies.Therefore, an advisory Council is proposed comprised of the various players of the National Innovation System, dedicated to proposing, reviewingand perfecting the Strategy. This Council, together with a body at the highest governm<strong>en</strong>t levels responsible for implem<strong>en</strong>ting the Strategy, provides anadequate institutional framework for guiding innovation in Chile.This model must <strong>en</strong>sure coher<strong>en</strong>ce at all levels, clarifying the role of each ag<strong>en</strong>t and <strong>en</strong>suring that resource allocation decisions are consist<strong>en</strong>t withthe guidelines arising from the Strategy.The rest of the institutional framework for innovation must be based on a clear definition of roles and take advantage of the pot<strong>en</strong>tialities thathave already be<strong>en</strong> g<strong>en</strong>erated in Chile, since the developm<strong>en</strong>t of a National Innovation Strategy requires a global viewpoint, as well as the specificknowledge of those who are nearer to the problems. This involves the executing ag<strong>en</strong>cies as well as the various regions of the country.However, the National Innovation System operates in an <strong>en</strong>vironm<strong>en</strong>t that may or may not produce favourable conditions for the developm<strong>en</strong>t ofthe innovation process, which innovation also nourishes.This involves infrastructure conditions that facilitate both physical and digital connectivity, as well as providing the physical inputs required todevelop innovation processes.It also involves the incorporation of the pre-cursors of innovation to the financial markets, since these share the intangible characteristics ofinnovation.In particular, it demands a better competitive position of Chile in international markets, which requires trade policies and international relationsthat raise and support the innovation <strong>en</strong>deavours of the country.Finally, the Council understands that its mandate to propose a National Innovation Strategy will only be fully fulfilled wh<strong>en</strong> it completes thedetailed design of the lines of action proposed to adapt the institutional framework and the governability systems of the <strong>en</strong>tire pro-innovation publicsystem and id<strong>en</strong>tifies, on a sectoral (clusters) and a regional level, the main defici<strong>en</strong>cies still remaining for the full developm<strong>en</strong>t of its pot<strong>en</strong>tial and themain specific policies required to achieve it.114