RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & ADOPTION

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT & ADOPTION

WHAT DOES THIS DIMENSION ADDRESS?

It addresses the progress of countries in generating new knowledge in AI, developing new applications, increasing patents linked to this technology, investing in R&D, and adopting AI across the public, private, and academic sectors.

The areas covered by this dimension are divided into the following subdimensions:

1)Research: Refers to each nation’s capacity to build a critical mass of AI researchers and enhance the productivity and impact of their publications. This subdimension is measured by a single indicator.

2)Innovation and Development: Relates to the production of innovative AI-driven services and technologies and includes two indicators.

3)Adoption: Reflects the extent of AI integration in productive sectors and public administration, with measurement based on two indicators

Each subdimension includes a set of indicators, which in turn consist of subindicators. These are measured and converted into scores within the index.

Investigation

It includes nine subindicators that characterize this indicator:

  • Total AI Publications
  • Active Researchers: the average number of authors publishing AI papers over a defined period.
  • Researcher Productivity: the average annual output of AI-related scientific publications.
  • AI Research Impact: measured by the citations of AI publications in other scholarly work.
  • AI Research Centers Presence
  • Female Authors in AI Proportion : the percentage of female researchers within the total pool of AI professionals.
  • Sustained AI Research Activity: includes both male and female researchers consistently publishing in AI journals or regularly participating in conferences.
  • A+ Conference Main Tracks and Side Events Engagement representing platforms where top-tier AI research advancements are presented.»

 

Innovation and Development

Relates to countries’ capacity to generate AI-based technologies and products and transform them into solutions with economic and social value. It includes subindicators such as:

  • Number of Private Investments, measures the number of investments in AI-related companies
  • Estimated Total Value of Private Investment, assess the projected capital directed by private actors toward this technology sector over a specific period
  • AI Companies
  • Unicorn Companies
  • Research and Development Expenditure as a Share of GDP, calculated as the ratio between R&D expenditure and total economic output
  • Application Development, focusing on creating practical AI solutions embedded in products or services
  • Entrepreneurial Environment

It refers to AI-based products, processes, or services created by a nation that add value by offering innovative solutions. This is measured through three subindicators:

  • Open Source Productivity, reflects the capability within a community or country to generate high-quality, relevant open source code.
  • Open Source Quality, captures the excellence, sophistication, innovation, or scalability in open source code.
  • Number of Patents, represents new technologies created within a country.

Adoption

Related to the integration of AI in economic activities that transform raw materials into products and services. This is measured through subindicators such as:

  • Workers in High-Tech Sectors, covers employees in manufacturing industries excluding sectors like food, beverages, tobacco, textiles, and apparel.
  • Medium- and High-Tech Manufacturing, measures the production of goods requiring advanced technical expertise, research, and development, including electronics, information technology, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and aeronautics, among others.
  • Proportion of Value-Added by Medium and High-Tech Manufacturing within Total Value Added (expressed as a percentage, refers to the difference between the value of final products and the cost of inputs used to produce them within these specified sectors.

It addresses digital transformation in a government, an aspect aligned with state modernization strategies. It is composed of a single subindicator:

  • Digital Government, which measures the incorporation of AI in public attention and management processes.

Main Findings

The main findings of this dimension highlight the maturing AI ecosystems in Latin America, though significant gaps in research and collaboration still remain.

01

Maturing Ecosystems

Despite regional differences, every country has at least two consistent AI researchers, and 11 out of 19 boast research centers in universities or private institutions. Additionally, there has been a notable increase in the average number of AI-related publications compared to the previous year, signaling that countries are enhancing their AI research and development capabilities.

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02

A Research Gap

The number of publications generated by researchers varies across countries, as does their impact on AI research ecosystems. Furthermore, public funding mechanisms appear to significantly influence both the productivity and quality of publications. These factors highlight a critical gap in AI development between countries.

03

WHERE ARE THE LATINOOOOOS?

The representation of Latin American authors in leading AI conferences remains nearly nonexistent. Across eight of the most prominent international AI conferences, only 0.23% of publications originate from the region, while just 0.11% of authors featured in major tracks are Latin American. This underscores the significant challenges faced by Latino researchers within the global AI landscape.

04

SHORTCUTS TO BRIDGING THE GENDER GAP

While some countries report positive trends in female participation in AI research, the majority still demonstrate insufficient efforts to close the gender gap in the field. Addressing this issue requires identifying the strategies of countries that have made significant progress, with collaboration and effective policies being crucial to enhancing the impact of women in AI.

05

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF THE ECONOMIC MATRIX

The economic framework of each country shapes its capacity to adopt AI. More liberal economies, such as Chile, Uruguay, and Costa Rica, exhibit higher levels of entrepreneurship and private investment, while more industrialized nations like Mexico and Brazil lead in patenting and the development of advanced technologies

06

AN EXPANDING COMMUNITY

The open source AI community is experiencing dynamic growth. Panama has taken the lead in production, surpassing Uruguay compared to last year, followed by Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. In terms of reputation, the Charrua community is notably more highly regarded, likely due to its well-established ecosystem.

EXPLORA LOS DATOS

El gráfico interactivo permite comparar resultados del ILIA 2024 a nivel de dimensiones, subdimensiones, indicadores y subindicadores de los 19 países. Este año los Pioneros en I+D+A son Brasil (79,17), Chile (75,21), Uruguay (66,68) y México (66,20).