Santa Fe: A Leading case in subnational policies for science, technology and innovation

Abstract

Santa Fe province has a robust innovation ecosystem, characterized by companies and startups based on technology, as well as universities and organizations in the fields of science and technology. The sub-national policies for the sector have accompanied this development. In 2008, Santa Fe assigned ministerial hierarchy for the area, and in 2013, a provincial agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) was created. In 2018, Provincial Law 13742 imposed a mandatory budget for STI policies and consolidated the agency´s status. In its actual configuration, the area STI is included in the Ministry of Productive Development. The recently passed constitutional reform has stated science, technology and innovation as a public good to be protected and improved, established the right of citizens of Santa Fe to use the benefits of science and the novel knowledge created in the province, and also ordered the strengthening of the regional innovation system.The public policies for STI in Santa Fe account for classic and novel instruments. As for classic tools, annual calls for oriented investigation in universities or research institutes are granted, as well as calls for innovation projects in the productive sector. Other programs address scientific, technological and industrial culture. They include project calls for the production of artistic and interactive content, and territorialized projects in alliance with local governments, science clubs, and innovation platforms. Santa Fe province designed and runs the “Centro Educativo, Científico y Tecnoloógico Acuario del Río Paraná”, a high-quality space aimed at science production, environmental education and conservationism, ecotourism and technological assistance to aquaculture production. Likewise, the subnational government participates in the governance of most of Santa Fe´s innovation platforms. Santa Fe has also pioneered gender and sex analysis in policies of STI, with its program dated 2018, aimed at talent, careers, and leadership of women and diversity. Today, the program is focusing on producing innovation and knowledge on the subject of society and the economy of care. The next innovative policy in Santa Fe province will be the tool “Catalizar” a second grade fund addressed to innovation managers, which will distribute public funding for strategic startups through public competition.To summarise, Santa Fe deploys a relevant portfolio of instruments of public policy for science, technology and innovation with an increasing formal framework and real impact. These are embedded in an ecosystem of strong public-public and public-private coordination, giving strength to the regional innovation system.