"This report provides an overview of the comparative innovation capacity of the Americas region through ICT-centric innovation policy monitors and insights on how good practice can strengthen capacity to integrate ICT innovation into national development agendas.
Overall, the Americas region has shown divergent scenarios in reaching the full potential of the innovation ecosystem. Few countries have a traditionally strong innovation system, and most performances in one or all three engines of growth must improve for the region to become a real actor on the global stage. Canada and the United States of America perform well, while emerging economies such as Argentina, Brazil or Mexico are struggling on the technological, entrepreneurial or innovation ecosystems, and others such as Haiti need further support to turn the country into a thriving digital innovation ecosystem.
To understand these discrepancies, the report introduces two ICT centric innovation monitors: the three engines of growth monitor and the digital transformation enablers monitor.
The report notes that there are many good practices in the region fuelling the entrepreneurial journey. Each practice presented in the report was analysed based on its impact in a third ICT-centric innovation policy monitor, the ecosystem maturity map monitor. Each stakeholder group, at each of the five stages of the entrepreneurial journey, is assessed by its level of engagement to assess the maturity of the ecosystem. For example, the first stage of the journey for entrepreneurs is entrepreneurial interest, while for the public sector, it is having a vision and strategy. The monitor enables stakeholders to visualize the maturity of the ICT-centric innovation ecosystem and identify which practices to keep, which must be improved and which to replace." (Introduction)