Digital innovation advances in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic

In Venezuela, Banco Plaza has concluded its “Diseña la cara del futuro” innovation contest to redesign its Mastercard Debit card lineup. The winning design by Mariale Parodi will be implemented across three distinct segments: a personal line for daily use, a legal/business line for corporate clients, and a youth line for children and adolescents. The initiative, supported by the bank's PlazaLab innovation laboratory, aims to modernize the institution's visual identity and facilitate digital payments.

In the Dominican Republic, the Instituto Tecnológico de Las Américas (ITLA) is collaborating on the Talent Up initiative to bolster digital competencies. Supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Google Cloud, and Cisco Networking Academy, the regional program aims to provide 15,000 free scholarships for digital skills training. In the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and MSMEs (MICM) will serve as the technical secretariat to coordinate efforts between the public sector, academia, and industry to meet the demands of the digital economy.