Facilitating the exchange of ideas THE HCLA BRINGS TOGETHER KEY PLAYERS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION IN ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
As a kick-off event for the continuing education course “Entrepreneurial Management”, the Heidelberg Center Latin America (HCLA) held the round table “Partnerships and Transfer for Entrepreneurship Today”. The event, which took place on Wednesday, August 7th in a hybrid format, included presentations by Sebastián Burgos, Director of Business Development at Fundación Chile; Pamela Valdivia, Executive Director of the Bavarian State Representation for South America; and Dr. Josefa Ibaceta and Sebastián Álvarez, young Chilean entrepreneurs, managers of the green hydrogen consulting firm ECIT. The moderator was Vanessa Nowak, professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the MBA program of Universidad Austral and at the HCLA itself.
The round table addressed the flagship projects and challenges of science-based innovation and organizations present, representing the triple helix of innovation -academia, industry and the public sector. Burgos presented the StartUp Campus initiative of Fundación Chile in collaboration with CORFO, aimed at promoting and catalyzing science and technology-based ventures, particularly through state-of-the-art infrastructure, connections and training. Meanwhile, Valdivia presented success stories where collaboration, exchange of ideas and talent between German and Chilean companies and start-ups have created solutions in areas relevant to the country, such as mining and water management. The founders of ECIT shared their experience: only 8 months after its formation, they already have a team of 6 people. The conversation between panelists and audience showed how entrepreneurship and the exchange of scientific knowledge and technology are essential in tackling current challenges. When asked by the audience what is the most important personal trait for an entrepreneur, Dr. Ibaceta said definitively “resilience”.
Knowledge and technology transfer is, along with research and teaching, one of the three performance pillars of Heidelberg University. In particular through its Innovation and Transfer Agency (heiINNOVATION), the University strongly supports transfer activities and the development of groundbreaking ideas that solve global problems. “The continuous training of professionals in entrepreneurship skills, and that those who do research know how to transform their results into actions is already essential, and we believe it will be even more so in the very near future. For this reason, the Continuing Education Area of the HCLA and heiINNOVATION have designed a curriculum in Entrepreneurship and Innovation together, which includes the course 'Entrepreneurial Management' that starts today”, says Dr. Inés Recio, academic executive director of the HCLA. She adds that “even if you are not actually working on starting a business to solve a problem, these skills are an enormous help to progress in your career and they can also be applied in your personal life”.
The HCLA Continuing Education Area (ABeLL) was established in 2023 and has already offered dozens of courses aimed at the constant professional development of its attendees. It offers programs in corporate sustainability, law for non-jurists, public communication, translation and environmental sciences, as well as German and English courses for academic purposes.
