We have done the most prominent emerging technologies event worldwide premiered successfully in the Andean country.
Ecuador is interested in technology, innovation and the opportunity to join these concepts in the pursuit of a better society, as was evidenced by the high attendance rates achieved by the first edition of EmTech celebrated in this country. The premiere of MIT Technology Review, Spanish Edition´s emerging technologies conference, organized by us, hung the SOLD OUT sign.
More than 700 attendees were witness to the latest trends in smart cities, genomics and healthcare, agricultural technology, and banking, amongst other topics. Close to 40 international expertscomprised the list of speakers, such as Robert Nicol, the director of the technological laboratories at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University (USA), Nikhil Vadhavkar, the CEO of Raptol Maps, and Juan López Salaberry, a partner at 500 Startups.
The speakers shared the stage with the winners of the first generation of Innovators Under 35 Ecuador. The five recipients of the award granted by MIT Technology Review, Spanish Editionreceived their awards during the last day of the event, and the special mentions of Social Innovator and Innovator of the Year were presented to Diego Toala and Luis Loaiza respectively. The winning projects included an intelligent system that predicts blackouts, training courses for underprivileged young women with limited economic resources, and a new type of cement that lowers the construction costs of low income housing. These award winners join the existing, global community of Innovators Under 35 that Opinno curates across the four corners of the globe.
The quality of the Innovators Under 35 Ecuador 2015, combined with the high level of attendance, confirms the Ecuadorian society´s interest in innovation and technology. "In Ecuador there is a high potential for entrepreneurialism and innovation, due primarily to its geographical location, the youth of its population and its perspectives for social and economic growth," the vicepresident of Opinno and director of the Engage department, Cecilia Nicolini.
This potential stems from initiatives like the Ecuadorian government´s Yachay, City of Knowledge project, "where important technological advances are being employed in conjunction with entrepreneurship and innovation," Nicolini adds. Yachay was chosen as the location for the third and final day of the conference on September 11th, while the first two days were held in Quito, the country´s capital city, on September 9th and 10th.
The success of the first EmTech Ecuador conference was preceded by the success of other EmTech conferences celebrated around the world. Opinno, a company specializing in technology and innovation has also organized other specialized events, like Harvard Business Review´s first HBR Summit and third party events like the Alumni Forum for Instituto de Empresa (The Business Institute).
The name EmTech stands for emerging technologies, whereas Yachay means knowledge in Quechaun, the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Both terms represent the spirit of this event and summarize the county´s aspirations to stimulate growth and generate new technologies, challenges for which Ecuador has proven itself prepared to face.
