The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) places Chile again on the first place in its Human Development Index (HDI) in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 43rd among the 189 nations included worldwide.
See more about Chile and its ranking in this important index here.
Since this year the report focuses on the relationship between human development and the sustainability of our planet, we want to share with you 2 important Chilean developments and projects that reflect our role as a country in this regard.
Creating future for the new generations
Chilean EdTechs —start-ups dedicated to incorporating technology in education— have registered historic growth during this past year.
“Historically and internationally, the EdTech industry has never grown as much as this year. Companies have advanced and grown in one year what we had planned for five years,” tells Antonio Da Rocha, director of education at PleIQ, a Chilean EdTech company that develops interactive notebooks with augmented reality for preschool education, using artificial intelligence and adaptive learning systems. At the beginning of 2020, it had 10,000 registered users in Latin America, and now it already has 100,000.
This way, we keep moving forward in the digital transformation of education systems that will allow us to continue contributing local talent to the world.
Learn more about this industry here.
Innovating for a more sustainable agriculture
After 8 years of investigation with the intention of “recovering unproductive land that can create jobs and exponentially lower the cost of production in order to ensure food in a context of drought and climate change”, local engineers and twin brothers Juan Carlos and José Patricio Reyes, together with agronomist Robert Vettiger, have successfully adapted seeds of field corn and sweet corn, wheat, oats, alfalfa and barley, converting them into “marine” seeds, that “can be planted in deserts, where the soil is normally saline-sodic, and are adapted to withstand temperatures between -2°C and 50°C. In addition, much less water is needed. A normal plant requires around 28 liters to sprout while these need only half a liter”.
With this innovation, the development of the Chilean FoodTech industry sets another example of how it is possible to produce food while taking care of the environment and generating new job opportunities thanks to local creativity and talent.
Learn more about this innovative project here.
The determination and talent of Chileans, seeking to contribute every day to create a better global future, has allowed Chile to position itself as a country with a sense of responsibility and connection to the economies of the world.
Press play below to watch some of the international acknowledgements that fill us with pride: