On 1847, on 1865 and for a period of 3 years, a Latin American generated strong bonds with the ...
On 1847, on 1865 and for a period of 3 years, a Latin American generated strong bonds with the intellectuality of his time and predicted that the future of education would be in the city where we can currently find the most vibrant ecosystem in the world in terms of life sciences and technology. In his opinion, education was linked to progress.
By Martin Padulla for staffingamericalatina
During the Senior Executive Program organized by INCAE and Babson College, I had the chance to return to Boston and immerse myself in this ecosystem that currently is the most dynamic in the world in terms of life sciences and technology.
What interested me the most of interacting with Babson College, Harvard University, MIT, prestigious companies, professors and venture capitalists was to act like an alchemist and decompose the elements that generate this system, to understand their impact on the future of education and the future of work, and to learn more about what we can promote in our region.
Before the conference and dinner scheduled at the Faculty Harvard Club, I saw the typical scene of tourist gathering around John Harvard’s statue. Tradition claims that toughing his foot brings good luck.
Though I tend to avoid such situation, every time I visit Boston I take a stroll looking for another statue. In a sort of heathen ritual, I walk by the fancy Commonwealth Avenue, and as I walk down the boulevard, I stop to admire the amazing monument made to honor Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who represents what I understand as “visionary”.
Sarmiento was a man of action, an entrepreneur who is remembered as an educator, but had a transcending impact in almost every aspect of Argentinian public life during the last two thirds of the 19th century. His main goal was to develop a public high quality education system for every citizen, and he was mostly inspired by the city of Boston, which honors him to this day. There, inspired by the intellectually of his time, he came up with the idea of a civic and practical education system, which would generate citizens and workers. He convinced over 60 Bostonian teachers to develop in Argentina. Despite having limited resources, he was able to understand that the future of education was in this dynamic city.
The entire continent celebrates Teacher’s Day on September 11 to honor Sarmiento. The date was set in 1943 during the First Inter-American Conference on Education, which also named him the “Teacher of America”. His legacy resulted in 5 Argentinian Nobel Prize winners. However, populism in this country has undermined his figure. A properly educated society clearly is a threat for this kind of political movements that deeply seduce our region.
Anyway, either through Harvard or Sarmiento, it is impossible not to travel back into the past in a place where future is being constantly created.
Today, Massachusetts has the largest share in the United States with people who held a university degree. It also has one of the largest per capita investment rates in R+D, it is one of the most important patent registry generators, and is a leader in venture capital in terms of GDP share.
Is this a casual phenomenon? Is it the consequence of luck and destiny? What did Sarmiento see and what can we see today?
For sure, Sarmiento saw this combination of education and sophistication regarding financial vision and risks. His friendship with Horace Mann, the “father of North American education” allowed him to understand what Max Weber would later address in “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”.
As Professor Guillermo Cardoza explains in his text “Route 128 and the Innovation District in Boston: Grammar of a Miracle”, “for over 300 years, Boston has been a major center of financial services, and currently the State of Massachusetts has the second most important gathering of venture capital firms in the United States. This community of financial services has channeled venture capital flows necessary to create technology based companies and the successful commercialization of their innovations. It is important to point out that an average of 68% of seed capital rounds in Massachusetts find local financing. Startups in Boston have gained investments for USD 38 billion during that past few years”.
Boston was a lighthouse for Sarmiento, and that light has clearly renewed and reinvented during history. Today, professional strategical planning enables it to shine more and more brightly.
The Innovation District is a clear example of efficiency, recovering forgotten areas and generating high levels of impact. This project has revitalized what used to be a vulnerable area of the city, creating a research and development cluster that has created new business opportunities in high added level industries, and highly skilled well-paid jobs.
The public agency Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) is responsible for zoning, planning, communication and marketing. BRA develops public relations with companies, investors, entrepreneurs, and universities; providing loans and spaces for the entrepreneurs selected; coordinating with developers so they save space for business incubators and startups accelerators, as well as coworking facilities and innovation centers in their building projects.
One of such centers is the Cambridge Innovation Center, located in Kendall Square, “the most innovative square mile in the planet”. This place makes you believe that everything is going on right there. A perfect playfield were innovation occurs. A place where entrepreneurs, academics, very early start ups, scale ups, leader companies such as PwC, and 27 venture capitalists coexist. Here is where Android, Hubspot, and many other developments where born. Going for a coffee involves listening to several pitch elevators.
The academy and entrepreneurship, the world of education and work, they all coexist in Boston. They all foster, fuel and challenge one another.
Leading companies move their headquarters to this fancy city in New Englad, they want to move in tune with this dynamic and creative city. They value the possibility of getting the best talent, premium quality R+D infrastructure, and being close to 55 top level universities.
Can these innovation districts be replicated? What are they made of? Basically, they are geographical areas where institutions and companies gather and connect with startups, business incubators, and accelerators. There are public-private articulation with a strong commitment from the triple helix: government, academia, and private capital. The combination of Silicon Valley, of Route 128 with Boston as key banner, and initiatives such as Start Up Chile with 1,300 startups accelerated and USD 1,350 million in companies created; or Ruta N, the business and innovation center of Medellin, with its clear goal to turn innovation into the main fuel of the city’s economy and welfare by 2021, based in a world class ecosystem; the entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Santiago; or the future Innovation Park of Buenos Aires, a campus that will gather public and private institutions that work on innovation, education and applied scientific research in an area connected with Ciudad Universitaria of the University of Buenos Aires, ORT School and the University Torcuato Di Tella.
The cultural change seems to rely in enabling innovation. The future of work is the consequence of the future of education because, as Sarmiento understood back in the 19th century, education is the key to progress. Currently, it requires to be complemented with intermediate institutions that provide training in new skills, as well as a proper business environment, pertinent talent, diverse forms of work, and a proper level of certainty for venture capital.
The private sector generates nations’ wealth. Someday, we will have to start working to build and take care of this playfield where we can unleash our full potential. Those who achieve such goal will be the heroes of the 21st century who will transform their societies.
About Martin Padulla
Founder and Managing Director of staffingamericalatina. Martin Padulla is Sociologist (USAL), MBA (UCA) and labour markets expert. He published “Flexible Work in South America” and “Regulatory framework for private employment agencies in Latin America” two books about the new realities of work in Latin America. He is working on the project #FOWiberoamerica.
Follow Martín Padulla on Twitter: @MartinPadulla
mpadulla@staffingamericalatina.com
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