Tic tank is the new academic unit at the Universidad Del Rosario, its aim to seek another dynamic at the institution in which higher education weighs in through innovative scenarios with the challenges imposed by today’s world.
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In the belief of those who have taken part in the project, Colombia now has a key tool for transparency and for the anti-corruption struggle, one much needed in a country with a history of waking up frequently to new corruption scandals.
It also shows that TIC Tank is not merely a think tank, but also a space in which ideas can be put into practice, and quickly. In less than one year, the team managed to gather the outcomes of the analysis the University carried out in 2017 in relation to the need to work on the search for transparency through a technological tool. These reflections were later aired in the University’s forum on Technologies for Anti-corruption Fight.
“We didn’t stop short at discussing theory but, thanks to the efforts of the Colombian Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications and Efficient Public Procurement in Colombia, we managed to place the content of the discourse and theory within public policy, which has now led to a tool to satisfy the needs required. That is why we started this project,” explains Martínez.
In addition, TIC Tank found in the Efficient Public Procurement in Colombia system the way put in practice the interest El Rosario has in actively participating in Colombia’s adhesion process with the OCDE, which is recommending a more active role for academia in digital government.
For the creators of this think tank, it is essential that ways are sought from within academia to get the best from technologies for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, since these are a global commitment to benefit everyone. “At TIC Tank we want to see how, through indicators of open data, we can create more solid institutions and, through the digital divide indicator, we can start talking about gender equality,” adds lawyer Dangond.
In this sense, this academic unit is working on different ideas. One of them aims to reach the regions through the construction of intelligent cities based around getting closer to the citizen. The first proposal is intelligent tourism, based on data analysis that will mean promoting a more sustainable tourist industry in environmental terms, and in terms of better opportunities for the public sector to put forward the services and activities needed.
“The Minister of Commerce has some initial indicators, but we should like to have information on which people are interested in going to specific regions of Colombia, what their tastes are, what services they want improved, or which services Colombia does not offer in the regions but which could be interesting for them. With this we could create input to give to the productive sector and tourist sector to create better services and processes,” explains Dangond.
Finally, TIC Tank is considering the creation of indicators for the University itself (which would be updated every two months), and these would show, among other things, how it is doing in open data and in divides associated with gender issues. “With TIC Tank, we can see the beginnings in the University of a need to look for scenarios from which we can contribute as an institution to the digital transformation of the country,” points out Martínez.