Governance and Public Innovation Diploma from CAF
The CAF Governance and Public Innovation Diploma Boot camp was held from February 7 to 9 at Georgetown University. The objective of the program was to promote the best sustainable development projects from each country in Latin America through an in-person workshop. Throughout the three days, 16 leaders from the region visited various institutions, incubated their projects, and had the opportunity to participate in master classes at the university.
During the inaugural session, Segio-Diaz Granados and Christian Asinelli, President and Vice President of CAF’s strategic programming, welcomed the participants. Sergio delivered some opening remarks highlighting the importance of local leaders in providing solutions to problems faced by the region such as climate change, gender equality, and digital transformation. Ricardo Ernst, executive director of LALP, also presented some welcoming remarks. Then, the participants introduced their projects and received feedback from Sergio and Christian who motivated them to continue working to improve their communities.
On the first day, the leaders visited CAF partner institutions. Microsoft Latam received them at its Innovation Lab, where they learned about existing initiatives to support government efforts. Participants then had an immersive experience using generative AI such as ChatGPT, followed by a tour of the Digital Transformation Showcase. The Dialogue was the next stop, where its president Rebecca Bill Chavez and her team introduced their initiatives on energy transition, education, gender, and transcontinental relations such as Asia-America relations. During their visit to the OAS, Silverio Zebral, Head of the Government Innovation Unit, received the students and spoke to them about what it takes to generate change in the region.
“We have a challenge, which is to design public policies based on the demands of different population groups with different tastes, needs, and characteristics.”
Lastly, they visited the Atlantic Council, a think tank in the United States, Europe, Latam, and the Caribbean. The participants presented their projects and received feedback from a political perspective with a focus on integration and alliances.
On the second day, the “Design Thinking” incubation methodology was presented, which allowed students to debate ideas, share experiences and improve their speeches to improve their final projects. During the third and last day, the participants attended keynote classes taught by professors from Georgetown University. Here, they heard about topics such as strengths-based leadership, storytelling, globalization, competitiveness, and governance.