OREANDA-NEWS. The Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Annual Meeting opened today in Asuncion with Demand Solutions, an event on innovation and creative entrepreneurship that stressed the vital role of women in the economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Demand Solutions heard the experiences of 17 talented, creative women entrepreneurs from around the world, plus three entrepreneurs from Latin America. They shared their experiences on how they are improving lives with an audience of local and international entrepreneurs, representatives from the public and private sectors, artists, creative professionals, undergraduate students, and representatives from the IDB and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) who converged in Asuncion for the Annual Meeting of these two institutions.

“In this highly competitive world it is paramount to go the extra mile and offer something more, like creativity, which is the trigger to innovation,” IBD President Luis Alberto Moreno said. “We want to see more women in the region like those we saw here today, at the cutting edge of science, technology and arts.”

The innovation and entrepreneurship participants in this edition of Demand Solutions came from Canada, Argentina, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia.

Canada’srepresentative, Miranda Wang, has discovered bacteria that can decompose plastic and which could help clean our oceans.

Argentina had two outstanding participants: Victoria Flexer, a scientist at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council who heads a team that is seeking to improve the extraction of lithium and develop high-performance batteries in the northern province of Jujuy; and Victoria Viel Temperley, founder of the Donde Quiero Estar Foundation, who explained how she managed to resignify her own personal pain and transform cancer hospitals in places full of hope, music, art, reflexology and virtual reality glasses.

Another social entrepreneur, Monica Araya from Costa Rica, founder of Costa Rica Limpia, is one of the 76  scientists from around the world who took part in a women-only expedition to Antarctica to study climate change, foster women’s participation in science, and add her voice to the global debate on a sustainable future.

Paraguayparticipated in a number of different areas: from creative industries, with visual artist Claudia Casarino and singer Jazmin Sanabria; to industrial design with the creation of the first single-person electric car by Natalia Bobadilla Rolon; to code programming classes for children through workshops and games by Leticia Romero andGary Servin; and the creation of an app to help people with eye-muscle conditions by Gabriela Galilea.

Brazil’s representatives were: Duilia F. de Mello, an astronomer whose presence reminded us of the importance of women’s presence in STEM activities; Gustavo Maia, creator of an app that helps communities detect and eradicate Zika; Carla Zeltzer, who developed an app that helps one learn programming; and Alex Angelini, founder of a TV musical show that uses music to stimulate children’s neurological development.

Carla Fernandez Tena, a textile designer from Mexico, showed the audience how her unique and innovate fashion creations help preserve the cultural heritage of her country’s indigenous women. Another participant from Mexico, Catalina N’haux, has designed software and hardware to monitor and maintain medical supplies in hospitals in real time.

Peruwas represented by Katia Canepa, a young engineer who helps us imagine a new form of interaction where there are no limits between wearable technology and our own body.

For her part, Colombia’s participant, Ilana Milkes, stressed the importance of turning our children into technology consumers and creators.