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The South American country has positioned itself as one of the countries with the best human capital index, with high standards formed by its universities.
In Venezuela, as in many Latin American countries, university education is the responsibility of the State. There are a significant number of public sector universities, although many are also privately owned.
Great progress has been achieved in the South American country in the academic sector regarding Higher Education with the coming to power of the so-called Bolivarian Revolution, led by Commander Hugo Chávez and currently with Nicolás Maduro as President.
These governments undertook major transformations in Higher or University Education, allowing thousands of Venezuelans to have access to it. The knowledge generated is related as a way to improve the welfare or social development of the nation, since it is applied for these purposes through science, innovation and technology.
In order to promote a better development of industry, the Venezuelan government began to apply the results of science, technology and innovation directly to industry and social development.
Venezuela is one of the countries with the largest proven hydrocarbon reserves, but given the structural crisis that the economy is going through, in addition to external coercion factors that do not allow access to state-of-the-art technologies for a better exploitation, there is a stagnation in production. However, as is well known, crises create opportunities for change, for taking advantage of endogenous capacities to overcome the difficulties of the moment.
In the midst of public policies of universal access to education, the government requested the application of the results of research conducted by universities. Each territory, through the network of educational and research centers, laboratories and discussion spaces, began to promote and apply the results obtained.
For example, new systems were designed to improve the drilling of oil wells and to create new capacities to refine the extracted crude oil. This allowed the country's main oil company, the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), to move from stagnation and setbacks in production to a better use of its installed capacity.
In addition, the collaboration of research projects with countries in the region was encouraged in order to confront advances in innovation. One of the most outstanding universities in this aspect is the Central University of Venezuela, completely financed by the state, which has achieved great advances in science, technology and innovation indicators.
Others, such as the Universidad de los Andes, located in the city of Mérida, has dedicated its main research to the diversification of the agricultural sector. This has allowed them to obtain, according to the Executive's statements recently presented to the Venezuelan National Assembly, full food sovereignty and even the export of viands and vegetables to neighboring countries.
In the turbulent modern world, it is essential to continue to promote higher quality educational services. Increasingly, there is a need for greater application of science for better utilization of production through the creation of new university centers, centers for innovation.
Science, technology and innovation indicators are a tool for defining the dynamics of formulation, application or evaluation of public policies in these areas. Venezuela has positioned itself as one of the countries with the best index of human capital with high standards trained by universities. Its advances in innovation and science applied to knowledge have allowed it to obtain tangible results in the economic and social sphere.
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