Central American regional integration in science, technology and innovation: a new challenge

Abstract

In recent years in international cooperation policies and public policies of the Central American (CA) region multilateral mechanisms were generated to form interinstitutional networks that drive science, technology, and innovation (STI) as the engine for regional economic growth. In the agreements social, political, and economic disparity were taken into account in order to stimulate the articulation between actors and potentialize local strengths to generate critical mass on the level of knowledge and build a research core base. The aim of this article is to identify institutional and productive capacities acquired in the countries of the region (CA) that encourage interaction on a national level and create favorable conditions to generate regional agreements to build regional interaction on STI. Results show deficiencies in the linking between public and private agents derived from the limited funds destined to I+D, the insufficient channels of information and the lack of interest of the investigations to respond to priority problems of the region, which weaken links with the productive sector. From there, arise the need to build a joint and collaborative work agenda to consolidated the institutional environment and favors the capacities to absorb knowledge.