Futura Lab is Live!

On August 28^th, Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes announced the launch of Futura Lab. Futura is a government innovation lab with the goal of bridging the gap between the private and public sector. Futura will encourage investment in the innovative and intellectual capacity of the island of Aruba, as part of its mandate to implement the national innovation plan, Aruba Innova 2030.

In the past few months Futura has launched different innovation projects and initiatives. Various workshops and meetings were held with public and private stakeholders, to create an open dialogue and establish innovation priorities. In June 2018, Futura organized an innovation summit where public, private, academic and civic sectors came together to discuss various important topics.

Futura will be in charge of different aspects of innovation on a national level. Futura is further involved in different think-tanks and committees focused on social innovation development.

Projects Kicked off in 2018:

• Mo-B Lab – A mobile makerspace for tech education in Aruba that offers a new way of learning through experimentation.
• AREA – A national platform to help re-imagine and re-design key business districts and innovation opportunity areas in Aruba into smart cities.
• Innovation Summit – Annual gathering of stakeholders to co-design the environment to accelerate innovation at a national level.
• District297 – A future-focused platform for Arubans abroad to engage, connect and collaborate toward the socio-economic development of Aruba.
• Kids4Bytes – Coding Summer Camp for kids focused on the development of 21^{st c}entury skills.