Machine-translated from Spanish. It may contain errors.
Colombia proposes AI cooperation with Korea, including a track for small businesses
MinCiencias laid out three tracks: compute and data for the regions, AI adoption in micro, small and medium-sized businesses, and AI for energy and water. No agreement has been signed yet.
Colombia's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MinCiencias) has proposed three tracks for artificial intelligence cooperation with Korea:
- Compute and data for research in the regions.
- AI adoption in micro, small and medium-sized businesses.
- AI for the energy transition and water management.
Vice Minister Ana Isabel Vargas Salazar presented the proposal on November 5 at a Korea–Colombia meeting organized by the Korean Embassy, the EDCF and KEITI, with the DNP, CAF and BCIE at the table.
For now, it's only a proposal: there are no signed agreements, amounts, timelines or calls for applications. The next step is a technical working group with Korea Eximbank and KOICA to determine which of the three tracks is most viable.
The initiative falls under CONPES 4144 of 2025. According to the 2026 Latin American AI Index from CEPAL and CENIA, Colombia ranks fourth out of 20 countries and, along with Brazil, is one of only two that specify a budget for their AI strategy.
Why it matters for builders
The small-business track is the one most relevant to the ecosystem: if it materializes, it could open up demand (and funding) for startups selling applied AI to small companies. We'll have to wait for the technical working group.
If there were public compute and data available for the regions, what would you build outside Bogotá and Medellín?
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