Puerto Rico CIO, Science Trust to promote innovation
Science and Research Trust Chair Alberto Bacó (Credit: © Mauricio Pascual)
The Puerto Rico Science, Research and Technology Trust and the government’s Chief Information Officer will work together to identify and evaluate research and development projects of high economic impact, which in turn may generate new marketable technologies, the entities announced Sunday.
The partnership agreement will lay the groundwork for the Trust to expedite the adoption of proposals based on standardized metrics and indicators for science and technology, according to the Milken Institute.
On Sunday, Trust Chairman Alberto Bacó said the agreement between the Trust and the CIO will establish a protocol for the proposal selection process that allows investing in projects that benefit various economic sectors, which are usually not viable for private sector financing. The protocol is expected to be ready in December.
“Emerging technologies in the information technology sector are the future drivers of economic development. This agreement allows us to lay the groundwork for the Trust to have the flexibility and expertise to make possible the emergence of new technologies that will accelerate our economic development,” said Bacó, while noting that the Trust will give priority to the establishment of social welfare and environmental projects.
The CIO’s office will be responsible for identifying, evaluating and recommending the best prospects in those areas.
In the short term, the collaboration between the two entities includes defining the strategy to support business incubators and the adoption of performance metrics of the projects under incubation. The development of the strategy and metrics will be ready in November, he said.
The agreement provides for the creation of a database of Puerto Rico’s intellectual capital. This database will include the intellectual capital of universities and corporations, incubators, laboratories and other entities related to scientific and technological development.
It also opens the possibility to partnerships with other academic institutions within and outside of Puerto Rico, to strengthen the necessary infrastructure and knowledge to promote science and technology.
Finally, Bacó said the CIO will identify open software projects and will establish procedures and metrics for their approval. Once these projects are selected, the Trust will evaluate and determine their eligibility for support. The procedures and metrics will be ready by January 2014.
