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Good practice Imported

PROINNOVA — Paraguay's IDB-Backed Business Innovation Programme

Paraguay · Asunción · See the Paraguay profile · See the Asunción profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 42% 71/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Paraguay's National Science & Technology Council ran PROINNOVA with IDB financing, executing 100 firm-level innovation projects, training 400 innovation leaders and assisting over 500 companies — now scaling with a new $10m IDB loan for a second phase.

100
Innovation projects executed
400
Innovation leaders trained
500+
Enterprises assisted
2,500+
People reached via awareness workshops
$10 million
PROINNOVA II loan approved
600+
Private-sector professionals targeted (Phase II)
500
Public officials targeted (Phase II)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) with the Inter-American Development Bank
Period
Phase I completed by 2026; Phase II ($10m) approved 2026
Keywords
business innovation, technology transfer, R&D grants, public-sector innovation capacity

Context

Paraguay's National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) has run the Business Innovation Programme, PROINNOVA, with financing and technical support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Objectives

The programme aims to increase private-sector investment in innovation and build technology-transfer capacity within Paraguayan firms.

Activities

Per CONACYT's own tally released in April 2026, the programme executed 100 innovation projects inside companies and startups, trained 400 innovation leaders through specialised courses, provided direct technical assistance to more than 500 enterprises, and reached over 2,500 people through innovation-awareness workshops.

Results

The IDB's Board of Executive Directors has approved a $10 million loan for PROINNOVA II, which will finance technology-development projects, place innovation managers inside firms, strengthen technology service centres, and train more than 600 private-sector professionals plus 500 public officials in innovation management, subject to ratification by Paraguay's National Congress.

Conclusions

The published figures describe programme reach and outputs — projects executed, people trained, firms assisted — rather than independently measured productivity, revenue or survival outcomes; the evidence base, while official and cross-confirmed by both CONACYT and the IDB, is descriptive rather than causal.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years)
Staffing & skills
CONACYT programme management, IDB technical and financial oversight, embedded innovation managers placed inside firms (Phase II), technology service centre staff

Conditions for success

  • multilateral development-bank co-financing and technical support (IDB) alongside national agency delivery (CONACYT)
  • a phased design allowing a proven Phase I to justify a larger financed Phase II
  • combining firm-level grants with training of both private-sector and public-sector officials

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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