Start-Up Nation Central to boost Israeli ties to Latin America, Caribbean
"Latin America and the Caribbean must be part of the digital future," Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge at IDB Ana Maria Rodriguez said.
By HAGAY HACOHENStart Up Nation Central CEO Professor Eugene Kandel(photo credit: Courtesy)
Start-Up Nation Central (SNC) and ConnectAmericas have announced a new partnership aimed to help roughly 5,000 Israeli start-ups reach Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) markets during COVID-19, SNC reported in a press release on Thursday.Created with the support of Google and Facebook, among others, ConnectAmericas serves roughly 360,000 users from 110 countries. An online business platform aimed to facilitate LAC companies’ relations with international clients and investors, ConnectAmericas was deemed ideal by SNC after it, together with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), mapped out the various fields that Latin America and the Caribbean seek to develop as the coronavirus pandemic demands new approaches.Among these fields are health, food security, cybersecurity, social services, and others.The new Israeli-Latin American hi-tech cooperation is further strengthened by IDB Lab. Headed by CEO Irene Arias Hofman, the IDB Lab serves as a first stage in which innovative solutions can be worked out in relation to the needs of the market they intend to focus on.“Our partnership with IDB plays a major role in connecting the ecosystems,” said SNC CEO Professor Eugene Kandel, noting how important it is to spot Israeli partners that can shape solutions that fit the current needs of LAC societies.He said the IDB Group is “one of the leading development banks in the world” and that it is an honor for SNC to collaborate with them.IDB Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge Ana Maria Rodriguez said that “COVID-19 will accelerate the shift to digital and reshape the business landscape.”She said that LAC “must be part of the digital future” and called the new cooperation with SNC a “great example” of how IDB is able to forge “high value partnerships.”While the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s economy are still unknown, it stands to reason that one effect would be an accelerated process of automating and digitizing production to ensure societies will be able to meet their basic needs and obligations while also keeping factory workers safe.AdvertisementAs these future systems are built, cybersecurity solutions will be required to protect factories, ports, and water systems from possible attacks, another field Israel has a lot of expertise in.
