• From April 19 to 22, entrepreneurs, business people, innovation leaders and those interested in doing things differently will be able to participate in nearly 20 free, virtual talks and discussions on innovation trends in Colombia and the world and how new technologies open up opportunities for companies.

Starting tomorrow at 8:30 am and until Friday, April 22, entrepreneurs and businessmen in Colombia will have free access to talks, workshops and tools offered by the Innovation Week, organized by the Innovation Lab of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and INNpulsa.

One of the topics to be addressed during the week is disruption and how it generates more opportunities and new businesses. In fact, Francesc Mañez, CEO and project manager of Qmax Consulting SL (consulting company of technological solutions for retail) will lead the talk "Disruption 4.0: protagonist in the tourism and retail sector". In it, Mañez will explain how incremental innovation generates profound changes in companies and in the markets where they operate, creating new business models, new processes, new leadership and new challenges.

His talk, which will take place on April 19 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, will focus on analyzing how companies relate to customers; how hybrid consumer spaces are designed; and how virtualization and the irruption of the Metaverse bring about changes in the way we consume and in the relationship between customer, product and space. In fact, prior to his talk, Mañez has recommended entrepreneurs to be brave and to try, because in the face of such a changing environment there are many valid paths. "Innovating makes sense if you create value. You don't innovate to make money... that's a consequence.

Innovation is making people's lives easier, simplifying processes, helping to achieve objectives and desires, reducing or eliminating a nuisance. For that we have to listen to the customer and understand what their tastes are, their needs, their aspirations... this is the key to any business," he said.

Innovation with cryptocurrencies

For those interested in the cryptocurrency market, Alejandro Beltrán, Country Manager Colombia of Buda.com, will be talking about the topic on Wednesday, April 21 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. In his talk, entitled "Cryptoassets as an opportunity for innovation in business models", Beltrán will explain that cryptocurrencies were born in technological communities and have now transcended the financial world to create solutions for payments, remittances, investment and savings, which do not depend on political, economic and generally human decisions. In fact, Beltrán has pointed out that technologies such as Bitcoin and its derivatives become an opportunity for businesses given that they are infrastructures that allow businesses to connect, guaranteeing their free and seamless flow of information and without depending on a third party, whether a bank or another entity. "To the extent that technology allows connecting people, while preserving individual freedoms, businesses will be able to transcend to the point they imagine using technologies such as Bitcoin and Blockchain" stated Beltran. This will be the only face-to-face talk of the Innovation Week and will be held at Carrera 15 # 93A - 10, prior registration is required.

Experiences of entrepreneurs

Every afternoon, from 2 to 3 pm, the "Ironman and Wonderwomen of Innovation 2.0" talks will be held, in which the experiences of entrepreneurs who have implemented innovation in their businesses and have boosted them will be presented.

One of them will be the experience of Carolina Avendaño, CEO and co-founder of Weseed, a platform that allows several people to buy a property and obtain its profitability in the subsequent sale. In her speech, Avendaño will discuss the difficulties that the real estate sector has to innovate, because according to her, it is one of the most backward in the field, considering that the purchase and sale of real estate requires physical presence and procedures in notary's offices and bank offices. In fact, the proposal of her venture is precisely to break down these barriers and make business in this sector more agile and efficient, through technology.

As advice to entrepreneurs, Avendaño points out that innovation is not limited to inventing new things. On the contrary, what is sought is to improve existing processes and optimize them by means of technological tools or developments. She also considers that it is essential to invite people from outside the company, who are not affected by internal problems, to exchange knowledge and contribute to the solution of these problems.

Likewise, Luceny Avendaño, CEO and founder of Data School, will talk about how innovation in collection processes in private schools in Colombia has prevented children from dropping out of school and the disappearance of schools. With Data School, Avendaño developed a technological platform through which schools can track the collection process and have a traceability of payments made or not by parents. He also created an information center for schools (a kind of Data Credit) so that the institutions have access to the payment behavior of parents.

However, Data School has developed collection prevention processes and strategies to strengthen relationships of trust with parents to prevent the collection of pensions and tuition from being reduced to a merely transactional issue. In this way, StarUp has revolutionized the way in which parents are charged for their children's school fees. That is why today they operate nationwide, as well as in Ecuador and Peru.

Experiences such as those of Carolina and Luceny can be learned in depth in the talks on how innovative entrepreneurs have built new businesses.