Evaluating Colombian SMEs’ technological innovation. Part 2: problems and challenges in innovation

Abstract

As innovation is an extremely important aspect of economic progress, then new technologies and improving existing ones must be evaluated for establishing the state of innovative culture and the ability to develop technology. The Colombian Innova award for Entrepreneurial Technological Innovation for SMEs was created in 2004, aimed at motivating technological and innovative development in this type of company. It also represents an important state initiative for promoting entrepreneurial innovation, providing a valuable source of information for establishing mechanisms for producing innovation in companies and gauging the current state of Colombian SMEs regarding innovation. This article outlines the structure of the award value chain, following-up and analysing the award’s results, understanding how it is awarded and identifying the actors involved in it. Analysing the award value chain led to identifying the lack of coordination between the National Innovation System (NIS) and companies and establishing participants and award-winners’ geographical and sector distribution (contrasts being found between cities such as Bogotá, Medellín and Cali). The characteristics of processes leading to promoting innovation in participating companies (in most cases developing their innovative products or processes in completely organisationally endogenous contexts) were thus identified. These results (providing valuable information for strengthening the award) also provided important input for strengthening strategies for promoting innovation in Colombian SMEs.