Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile: Faculty of Mathematics benefits 2,500 people from Tarapacá
For five years, UC has been installed in the Tarapacá Region to transfer knowledge and support its development . The Faculty of Mathematics and its statistical studies unit – DATA UC – have led four projects in this area.
It all started in 2016 with the Tarapacá Intelligence project financed by the Innovation Fund for Competitiveness (FIC), promoted by the Regional Government and Regional Council of Tarapacá.
Using more than 50 data sources, such as the 2002 and 2017 censuses, the CASEN survey, and many more, the platform www.tarapacaintelligence.cl was created where all kinds of background information can be consulted: demographics, economy, health, employment, education etc
“We wanted to democratize access to data so that the inhabitants could better understand their region and be able to make informed decisions,” explains Alexis Alvear, executive director of Tarapacá UC .
Using more than 50 data sources, such as the 2002 and 2017 censuses, the CASEN survey, and many more, the platform www.tarapacaintelligence.cl was created .
One of the trainings carried out was the Diploma in Intelligence Systems for Competitiveness , which was attended by 113 professionals and technicians. Public and private workers were certified in data science to increase their ability to analyze large databases.
“Together with Roxana Cerda, also a diploma student, we had the idea of creating an organization to mitigate environmental damage. We learned to measure the impact of our services and express it in eco-equivalences, that is, the translation of data so that people can understand what and how much material is recovered monthly”, explains Erika Aliaga, public administrator and environmentalist who took the diploma .
three new projects
Why Tarapaca? “ We wanted to contribute with decentralization in an extreme region, in the north of Chile, which is experiencing interesting social phenomena, such as migration . Second, we observed that the region had a population pyramid that can enhance economic and social growth. And, finally, because it presents various conditions to diversify its economic development”, explains Alexis Alvear.
These elements were what also led the Tarapacá UC team to initiate three new initiatives: the tourist platform “TamaruGO!” , ” TarapaTECH” and “Digitaliza2.0” . Through the tamarugo.mat.uc.cl platform , tourist services in the province of Tamarugal are promoted. To do this, hundreds of data from opinions and experiences of travelers on the web were analyzed.
“We promote human capital education and training actions, both at the school level and among tourism entrepreneurs in the province. We provide digital marketing tools to the latter”, details Francisco Fortes, coordinator of Tarapacá UC.
The wealth of the workforce
TarapaTech, for its part, was born out of a request from the Regional Council of Tarapacá to support the digital transformation of small and medium-sized businesses. Training courses were held; the Digital Brains Seminar, a Fair of Problems and the Digital Brain Contest. The website www.acamedia.cl was created , which contains free courses on digital marketing, branding, use of Canva, advertising photography, use of social networks and typography.
And Digitize2.0? This is a project that will benefit 300 workers in the commerce sector, who require training and education in digitization aspects to enhance their work skills. The training of women and people over 50 years of age who require training tools to increase their skills and technical knowledge will be prioritized. “We were creating the initiatives. We did not arrive here with arrogance: we extended an invitation to all those who wanted to join our activities, with regional universities and trade associations”, concludes Alvear.