iNNpulsa, Wayra Colombia and others launch first IoT research and development lab in Bogotá

Contxto – Colombian entrepreneurs developing IoT solutions will surely benefit from the recently launched CEmprende laboratory in Bogotá. As the city’s first facility devoted to IoT research and development, CEmprende offers co-working areas and plenty of testing spaces for experimentation. 

Behind this alliance was Telefónica Movistar’s Wayra open innovation hub, iNNpulsa, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, among others. Coordinators hope to create a new ecosystem for entrepreneurs creating IoT products or services. Over time, the hope is for ventures to scale concepts both regionally and globally.  

New space

Located at the accelerator and corporate investment fund of Telefónica Movistar, Wayra Colombia, the new lab specifically caters to IoT entrepreneurs. For requisites, they must work with metering, farming and livestock, general tracking, industrial and urban furniture, or consumer IoT.

Moreover, iNNpulsa or Wayra affiliates are also invited. 

For those who qualify, they will have an operating environment of LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) connectivity at CEmprende. M2M (machine-to-machine) communications will also be recreated.

All in all, it aspires to “to close the digital talent gap that still persists in Colombia, offering a network of the latest technology, the first of its kind in the country,” said Fabián Hernández, CEO Telefónica Movistar. 

Other amenities will include software and hardware development kits based on NB-IoT/LTE-M, not to mention communication modules for interactions via NB-IoT/LTE-M. On top of it all, there will also be support, training materials, plus plenty of devices to play around with.  

As a side note, those who are developing voice services, video transmissions or file transfer solutions reportedly don’t qualify. Specifically, CEmprende wants to support low-transactional solutions from LTE networks. 

If solutions require sending large amounts of data, they shouldn’t be sensitive to latency. Ultimately, they must support the following bandwidths: 2,100 MHz., 850 MHz. and 1,900 MHz.

Medellín IoT lab

Moving along, the CEmprende lab will soon have a counterpart in Medellín. According to the President of iNNpulsa, Ignacio Gaitán, there will be a new space inaugurated in Colombia’s second-largest city on November 29. However, its focus will surpass more than just IoT.

“In that place, there will be four technologies: internet of things, big data, blockchain, and artificial intelligence,” said Gaitán.

A third space is also reportedly in the works for March 2020, according to Gaitán. This will involve alliances with Facebook, Google and Claro telecommunications.

-JA