Havana Science and Technology Park set to become a prominent innovation ecosystem on the island

Cuba, which is long regarded as a great example of a model based on knowledge and intellectual assets as sources of competitiveness and long-term economic growth, is exploiting these resources to build out an information technology (IT) ecosystem.

Cuba’s centralised economic planning and over-reliance on tourism, remittances and the export of medical services has sidelined technological innovation in some respect but is now turning its attention towards IT eco systems. This has come about as the communist-led Caribbean island is facing it’s worst economic crisis in 30 years amid the ongoing impact of the pandemic.  

The Cuban government is trying to update its technology policy and approach to innovation promoting science and technology parks are a novel addition to its new economic strategy. The Havana Science and Technology Park, headquartered at the University of Computer Sciences (UCI), is set to become a prominent innovation ecosystem on the island. 

Science and technology park leading the way

Nearshore Americas reports that the park, inaugurated in 2020, is to operate as an incubator, efficiently integrating universities, research centres, foreign capital, local startups as well as state resources. 

According to Sandra Madiedo, a Havana-based digital strategy consultant and founder of Archipiélago Startapero who has been following the park’s development since its opening, “the park tries to provide an umbrella for all the high-tech projects developed by UCI’s faculty, alumni and students. It’ll reach small private startups as well, providing a legal, flexible framework with adequate infrastructure to incubate all kind of businesses and produce high-value products and services”.

Cuba has long been praised as an educational powerhouse in Latin America. Nearshore Americas assesses that the Caribbean country hasn’t yet seen the full results of its investment in education, citing constant brain drains, limitations on private initiatives and the monopoly of the state over the exercise of professional services.

As such, Cuba’s human talent has been unable to flourish. Despite this, the country is known for having an underground outsourcing ecosystem with an endless supply of developers, who provide services to foreign clients. This previously informal service provision arrangement is now being formalised with the help of the science and technology park, which is providing the space and professional surroundings for these types of technology services and jobs.

Foreign companies hiring Cuban IT professionals

Nearshore Americas says foreign companies are already taking advantage of the opportunity to hire local talent in Cuba. This is the case of SMaBiT, a European company, which became the first international client at the science and technology park.

SMaBiT develops integrated hardware for smart home sensors, industrial gateways and security cameras, as well as network platforms for the management of IoT devices and video analysis. The Park has already signed around 40 projects, prioritising strategic areas such as big data and data analytics, the electronics industry, cyber security, energy efficiency and solutions for healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry.

The agreement with AlaSoluciones, a local private company developing technological solutions for agriculture, security and other industries, has elevated the expectations about the park’s potential to generate high impact products. Other signups include EMSI Farma, which works on the automation of already existing processes, particularly in healthcare.

The small, Havana-based company developed the main software behind the ventilators used in Cuba to treat COVID-19 patients. The park offers similar opportunities and conditions to other initiatives of its kind in Latin America and the Caribbean.