Curaçao Archives - OCTA Innovation

Curaçao start-ups getting ‘knowledge’, ‘technology’ and ‘support’ vouchers.

Curaçao pilot project Start up Launchpad, offers businesses in the start-up stage a chance to participate and win Technology, Knowledge and Support vouchers to invest in their company.

Start up Launchpad program consists of 4 rounds of intensive coaching and support. Each round is concluded with a ‘pitch competition’, determining who will continue to the next round. 15 entrepreneurs were selected to participate in the first round of the Startup Launchpad. These 15 entrepreneurs presented their results in front of a jury and a live audience.

The top five gained a place in the second round of the Startup Launchpad program and the opportunity to invest up to ANG. 20.000 in their business:

HQ Rental: Ries van Lommel
CamBackup: Royendgel Silberie
ADG Consultancy: Ariadne Flores Sophia
Fresh Habits: Giancarlo da Costa
Curacao Agro Tech: Alex van Sprang.

The winner of the final round of competitions will get the chance to compete on an international level.

Curaçao Innovation Action Plan

by OCTA Communication

Curaçao made an excellent job in the period of establishing its innovation strategy. Particularly it was great job of organizing consultations via multiple working groups consultation work for each sector of importance for the economy and the wide society of Curacao. Innovation strategy has been developed afterwards. Curaçao made its innovation policy. The innovation action plan is on the discussion. Innovation Director Fiona Curie is making great job in this progress moving from strategy to policy and to this short- and long-term action plan.

The main goal is to promote sustainable economic development by stimulating innovative projects and processes that should strengthen business activity, stimulate economic diversification and improve regional competitive advantage and the competitive position of Curacao.

Government of Curaçao must facilitate and stimulate innovation and does this by:

Providing of facilities, knowledge and capacity;
The mitigation of entry barriers, exist barriers and growth barriers to entrepreneurs and businesses;
Making property rights accessible and enforce law.

Curaçao development strategy news Fiona Curie

Creative industry in Curaçao

by OCTA Communication

Creative industry agenda in Curaçao is very diversified including every kind of events from cultural to food and from musical to film that attract people as Carnaval and Harvest festival, Curaçao Culinair, Curaçao North Sea Jazz and Curaçao International Film festival Rotterdam.

It has been recognized that in many areas of the creative skills, there is a significant potential to develop a subcontracting services to the European expecially to Dutch companies. Namely many creators have been educated in Holland, some have started their carrier there and the cost of creative services performed in Curaçao is highly competitive with a similar job done in the Netherlands.

Two-days technical assistance was an efficient step in generating discussion between the players of the creative and cultural industries. The general consensus was that Curaçao needs to develop a Cultural policy in order to establish the priorities and to define where to concentrate the efforts such as in developing the education and certification, supporting growth of existing and start-ups.

creative industry Curaçao news

Trade & export incentives in Caribbean Netherlands

by OCTA Communication

Trade and export incentives for entrepreneurs of the Caribbean Netherlands and the Caribbean countries within the Kingdom.

As of 1 January 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened up the instruments for trade and export promotion to all entrepreneurs in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom. Entrepreneurs with export ambitions from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius and Sint Maarten can now take part in these instruments.

More information.

Sint Eustatius Curaçao Aruba trade news Sint Maarten Bonaire Sint Maarten

3P-BL Curaçao

by OCTA Communication

Prof Ergun Erkoçu from Curacao University intends to submit proposal for the open call Erasmus +. Project should be in line with Three Pillars Blended Learning (3P-BL) project and will have blended learning & training with the implementation in the area of Heritage reconstruction and Building Information Management (BIM).

Curaçao educational innovation news European Commission

Living Green Furniture Curaçao

by OCTA Communication

Eugene Maduro, from Curaçao is the owner and designer of Living Green Furniture Curaçao. He makes furniture from collected objects in his own neighbourhood, such as very old lumber which is wood since colonial times. Eugene considers bringing out Curaçao’s history by this wood as a way of promoting his island. The furniture of the concept Monumento Di Curaçao carry with them the historical weight and recognition of the island’s history.

Living Green Furniture already received two awards

JCI Creative Young Entrepreneur Award in 2010
Guardian Group Best in Business Award 2014

And is now nominated in the category Creativity of the OCTA Innovation BIC awards.

More information on Living Green Furniture Curaçao.

creative industry Curaçao news Award Nomination

Innovation, the driver for prosperous Curaçao

by OCTA Communication

Meeting Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath was an excellent opportunity for discussion on the issue of innovation, not only technological innovation but also all aspects of innovation and influence on economy and wider on complete society of Curaçao.

How to have innovation-driven prosperous Curaçao?

The axis of the discussion was how to move, how to implement innovation to be driver of the society. How to organize implementation of systemic innovation? How to institutionally structure innovation to be implemented across all sectors? How innovation can drive the National Development Plan (NDP)? How innovation can support a nation investing in resiliency and sustainability? Innovation in bringing both development and sustainability.

We tackled several current issues of the Island, such as migration, social inclusion and social innovation. But all of these in larger context of having innovation-driven prosperous Curaçao: capacity-building in general including government capacity-building, wide involvement of the population and Curacao people ownership of building their future.

Curaçao news Innovation Missions Fiona Curie

Vouchers for knowledge and technology

by OCTA Communication

The mission in Curaçao was also the occasion to meet the whole team of the pilot project “Startup launchpad”: the Curaçao Innovation and Technology Institute (CITI) members, the finalists and the jury from the rounds of competition.

OCTA Innovation team leader Milan Jezic von Gesseneck worked with them on the results already obtained and on what is planned for the second part of the implementation of the pilot project.

The Start-up Launch pad offers businesses in the start-up stage a chance to participate and win Technology, Knowledge and Support vouchers to invest in their company. This is in addition to an extensive mentoring and coaching program and the exposure their business will get in the local media. There are three rounds of competitions. The winner of the final will get the chance to compete on an international level.

Curaçao news Innovation Missions Fiona Curie Pilot project

Hydroponic plant in operation

by OCTA Communication

During his mission in Curaçao, Milan Jezic von Gesseneck, OCTA Innovation Team Leader, Innovation expert visited on hydroponic plant. One of the top five who gained a place in the second round of the Startup Launchpad program and the opportunity to get a voucher, is Giancarlo da Costa from Fresh Habits.

For this start-up, innovation is in the implementation of the hydroponic solution to reduce import, but also to develop hydroponic technology to eventually produce the container based hydroponic set and to have export from Curacao. Using this technology will bring sustainable and local production to the community of Curaçao.

Curaçao agriculture news Innovation Missions Fiona Curie