A study commanded by the Inter-American Development Bank has estimated that Venezuela has lost 16% of its scientific researchers (data published in 2020), mainly due to the deterioration of living conditions (read the report here). The authors of the research point to the importance of developing networks to connect expatriate researchers to facilitate the promotion of joint projects, teaching, internships and consulting.
In order to promote connection, communication and collaboration among Venezuelan academics and researchers who live in Venezuela and in different countries, the InterConectados Foundation has made its internet platform available to the academic community to turn it into a virtual networking and collaboration. This initiative is supported by the Coalition for Academic Freedom of the Americas (CAFA) created by the University of Monterrey (Mexico), our Human Rights Research and Education Centre and the Scholars at Risk Network based in New York.
CAFA seeks to promote awareness and defense of academic freedom throughout the Americas region (from Canada to Chile). Its objective is to advance relevant human rights standards, both as a means of protecting higher education spaces in the Western Hemisphere, and as an opportunity to create best practices.
InterConectados is a non-profit organization created in 2011 by a group of academics and professionals interested in promoting the dissemination of knowledge through the use communication technologies to facilitate timely and creative solutions to many of the social problems that require collaborative leadership in Venezuela and in Latin America. A key element for the work carried out by InterConectados is the creation of interdisciplinary teams with those in Venezuela and in the world.