Maria Eugenia Estenssoro: "In 10 years, Argentina can become the pole of scientific and technological enterprises in Latin America"

The dispute over global power concerns knowledge, says the old
Maria Eugenia Estenssoro. That's why today they are just a step away from a trade war between China and the United States, and that's also why some countries are becoming leaders or lagging behind in international economic order. The fourth industrial revolution, in which robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and the Internet of Things (IoT) – among other systems – changes the mode of production, does not shows that the first consequences. And if nations do not prepare for what is coming, their work force will be the first to be affected.

"If it is proposed, Argentina could become in 10 years the pole of development of scientific and technological enterprises in Latin America," said the co-author of
Innovative Argentina, a book that proposes the thesis of the country's potential as a center of innovation and studies technology entrepreneurs who wish to "realize the dream of an innovative and creative nation, recognized for its talent in the rest of the world".

The proposition of Estenssoro for the private sector is to no longer think about maximizing profits and abandoning this "extractive" model to build one that reinvests profits in technological development and human resources allowing Argentine companies to go well beyond the internal market. He badures that today, it is a difficult subject for Argentine businessmen, but that the companies that occupy the first places in the ranking of growth have applied this strategy in despite the country's economic fluctuations.

-How do you badyze the level of readiness of the public sector to the knowledge economy?

-The fourth industrial revolution can make Argentina an important protagonist of Latin America. The problem is that there is no political decision to make in this regard. The government of

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

underlined the relevance of investments in science and technology, and that of

Mauricio Macri

brought technological unicorns to the table [las compañías cuya valuación de mercado supera los US$1000 millones]but in reality there is no integral policy. Today, we place the knowledge economy as important as public works.

Dead cow

. Without a doubt, all of the sites will give us the fossil fuel needed to achieve self-sufficiency, but our future is not there, as the world moves on to other sources . In our country, the decision to place science and innovation at the center of the strategy that converges with education, sources of work and the export model, among others, does not make it possible. has not been taken yet. As we were the breadbasket of the world, today we can be the center of technological development in the region.

– And the private sector?

– Today, we have a productive sector with many types of businesses and, with a few exceptions, most have a very hybrid look reserved for the domestic market and with ideas for protecting the business. State. Our corporate culture does not want to compete with the world and I'm not talking about when the exchange rate is favorable or when the domestic market becomes impossible, but about a growth strategy of being regional companies then global. In the coming economy, the opportunities are great, but so are the threats. And the paradigm shift needed to take advantage of the transformation can not be cosmetic or a plan that includes only leading companies. It is important for political, business and labor leaders to agree on the challenges ahead.

-When we talk about the knowledge economy, for the examples that circulate, it seems that only companies that do not have physical badets, such as Facebook or Uber, are mentioned. What is the place of manufacturing companies, which are big generators of jobs?

– Last year, I was in Rafaela, Santa Fe, where there is a very good articulation between the public and private sectors. I've met a valve manufacturer, Bbado, who was already working with the National Institute of Industrial Technology to transform his plant and be able to make 3D prints. This is the case of an industrial company integrating new technologies. Today, these companies have thousands of possibilities: from automation to control variables with the help of sensors and the Internet of Things. At the beginning of this year, they met

Emmanuel Macron

[presidente de Francia] and

Angela Merkel

[canciller alemana]They were worried because, out of the 10 largest companies in the world, there were seven Americans and no Europeans, and the German industry was very powerful. His idea is to make a strategy so that the European Union is not left behind. If Europeans are worried, what should we do?

– In the knowledge economy, it was necessary to have three jobs before. How can Argentina, a country where one inhabitant in three is poor, make this transition and the current workforce is not removed from the equation?

– Argentina can not be a protagonist of the 21st century with 30% of the population below the poverty line. The structural poverty of the country has been increasing for almost 30 years because we have containment policies, but we do not plan any measures to qualitatively improve education and health. This translates into low productivity and, currently, if there is not a good harvest, the country will collapse. Achieving a more integrated society is fundamental.

– In this sense, there is also a technological gap between the different socio-economic levels that could complicate the manpower needed to turn to a more knowledge-based model.

– If, as a country, you want to have the strategy of being a strong country, you need to have the best schools where the poorest are. Today, the idea that work and effort are what will move us forward is almost absent in the minds of people. The majority of boys in lower sectors do not finish school; second, he does not see how his work situation will improve. When I was in the Legislative Assembly of the city, I worked a lot for there to be maternity gardens with teachers at the front for boys of 45 days to three years. Why with educators? Because, in this way, the family that leaves the boys enters another cultural system, in another order, into the culture of the effort and the overcoming. The knowledge economy begins with an education of the highest quality.

– The Law on the Knowledge Economy has recently been approved. Are these types of incentives sufficient for the development of these companies?

-This is a positive sign, as sectors such as biotechnology or aerospace, for example, are given priority. But, on the other hand, the scientific system is being funded. It seems to me that, just as social plans do not touch each other despite the crisis, because they have to be mastered, there are certain things that can not be reduced because, in terms of innovation, you simply miss the train. Many scientists are going abroad, just as without the law of the knowledge economy, many companies would surely have disappeared: entrepreneurs are faced with a reality so hostile that 39, other countries choose to start their own business. In this sense, China had 1.2 billion poor people when it announced that it would start by investing in science and technology. First, they were the cheap factory of the West and today, they challenge the United States the reign of innovation.

– This divestment in science and technology also has its correlation in the private sector?

– The strategic priority given to science and technology is a huge debt of Argentina. It is in the pharmaceutical sector that we see the best: we have a patent law that does not respect international standards to protect our laboratories, which often buy patents and do not develop their own products. The country in general has a weak patent tradition and is still thinking more about the internal market. However, today some examples show that it is possible to exist and that there is a model that can change. Agriculture is powerful despite all its problems, because today it is a sector in competition with the world, which was aggiornó, which has invested a lot in technological innovation. We did not see the same thing in the industrial sector and Argentina lost positions. Until now, there was a great deal of mistrust among businessmen and scientists. On the one hand, scientists are wary of research for the benefit of an individual; On the other hand, the private sector is wondering what can invent the scientific system that has not yet been invented. Innovation is very dynamic today: the knowledge economy and science are systems on which there is still a lot of room for cooperation and so far their use has not been productive. There is a path that all must take, right up to the government, which has to think about how to redirect some of the scientific research to areas where we have competitive advantages, but that does not mean mbadive divestment. The threat is very great: the decline we are already experiencing will increase if we do not change the dynamics.

-What is the main cultural change that companies are doing to prepare for this innovative Argentina?

-The most important is to know that we have to look at the situation, which is urgent here, but also in the long run. A good idea is to want to be the best company in the industry, whether in town, in the countryside or in the surrounding area. However, here you always look at the economy instead of investing in human resources, better products and better technology. There is a large median where few investments are invested in these variables and, in fact, you must have this ability to look with bifocals. Companies that invested the profits in the tired years to complete their production systems were then the most strengthened when difficult times arrived, but this mentality costs us dearly.

– Imagine, in ten years, an Argentine private sector much more integrated with global value chains?

-The appearance of "living with what belongs to us" does not go further in a global economy. If today you do not invest in the training of your staff, you will not benefit when the time comes. Argentina has a model of extraction in its business, its political culture and its union culture: it is to maximize profits at any time without reinvesting, which leads to a decrease at a time given. There is another, more inclusive model, in which profits are reinvested to create large regional or global businesses, which is very common among tech entrepreneurs under 50 years of age.

-Which private companies or referents of the private sector are interested today in this innovative Argentina that could be developed?

-The new unicorn has recently been the subject of discussions,
Auth0, a company dedicated to cybersecurity. Without a doubt, these information technologies have a great capacity for growth, as well as the
FinTech [las compañías que mezclan finanzas con tecnología]. There is no doubt that anything related to biotechnology and modernized metallurgical industries for agriculture will also increase. Argentina should aim to be a leader in energy beyond fossil fuels, but this requires great technological innovation, as it currently does.

YPF

lithium and renewable energies. As we are in an election year, I would like the candidates for the presidency and the governor to also talk about these issues. We are still talking about deficit, recession, growing poverty; These are the only discussions we have had, and we are getting worse. I hope that there is a consensus on the fact that the paradigm that comes is that of knowledge and that it should act of an ecosystem involving all sectors and sectors. not just a system in which businesses will become more competitive.

– Who are in the circuit of this knowledge economy, or at least on the way to this model as employees or employers, what would you recommend on a personal and professional level?

– Something that I have often seen in all entrepreneurs and all entrepreneurs is that even though they have a great love for what they do for the country and do it since the last year. Argentina, they are also very aware of what is happening in the world. . Many watch the world conferences by
streaming because they see it as a way of learning and knowing what is happening in other countries. They do not just listen to our local debate, they open their heads. Then I think that a vocation to learn, to be open, to know how to work in a team is very useful. Because one can be very talented, but if one is a difficult or refractory person, it is complicated. When we talk about an "innovative ecosystem", it's just the opposite of "the egoosystem". It's about not being so defensive, but thinking in a more collaborative way.

* Maria Eugenia Estenssoro is a journalist and politician. He was the senator of the nation and the legislator of Buenos Aires. He co-wrote the book Argentina Innovadora, where he studied technology entrepreneurs.

Three proposals

1. Reinvest the earnings. For Estenssoro, companies should stop thinking about the constant maximization of their profits and opt for a model in which they are constantly reinvested.
2. Educate with quality. For all to stay in the new business model, he proposes to have the best schools in the places where the poorest are
3. Have a strategic look. None of this can be achieved if the government does not strengthen the knowledge economy as a priority, he says.