PROJECT OF THE ORGANIC LAW OF THE SOCIAL ECONOMY OF KNOWLEDGE, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION PREAMBLE The Project of the Organic Law of the Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation constitutes a normative instrument which aims to radically modify the existing paradigms in the generation, use, exploitation and distribution of the asset knowledge, which is of public interest, through the implementation of legal rules that make fair relationships feasible between the various stakeholders, as well as, providing the necessary conditions for the balanced access to the benefits of this asset to achieve the highest possible level of satisfaction of needs and the full exercise of human and nature rights. To contextualize the objectives of this body of law, we must explain the current state of the development of science, research, technology, innovation and the protection of traditional knowledge in our country; thus, from this diagnosis the statements, directives and guideless of the Organic Law shall be understood clearer. The low endogenous development of knowledge in the country, for example, is a difficult condition to overlook when we analyze our System of Science, Technology and Innovation, and Traditional Knowledge. In fact, indicators such as the number of patents submitted by national stakeholders; the almost non-existent innovation generated by Ecuadorian companies; as well as, the expense on science, technology and innovation compared to the GDP, are figures that openly reveal the profile of our cognitive matrix, which shall influence determinedly on the composition of the productive matrix. In this context, our cognitive and technological matrix has been largely dependent on activities and assets produced in and by “developed” countries. These features, as explained below, have resulted in the absence of a system per se, as our society has not considered knowledge – with the exception of the modalities of intellectual property – as an asset; then, historically there has been very little added value from the use and exploitation of knowledge, as is the insufficient funding for its production and management. The causes of this discouraging state are diverse, but without a doubt, one of the main causes is the lack of interaction between the Higher Education System and the System of Science, Technology and Innovation. If we focus on the historical development and operation of these systems, we find that the legal institutions that comprise either are outdated or far from the national reality or, otherwise, have been openly nonexistent. With the support of the Government of the Citizen`s Revolution, these conditions have begun to change; thus, on October 12, 2010, in the Official Gazette No. 298, the Organic Law on Higher Education was enacted, this law implements the transformation of the Higher Education System with the modernization of its institutions, the development of governing principles and the regulation of the rights of the stakeholders. Nevertheless, until the date of enactment of the Organic Law of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation, the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation, enshrined in article 385 of the Constitution of the Republic – fundamental base for the development of research, technology and national production – this shall continue without an appropriate regulatory framework. In this vein, the project of the Organic Law proposes a profound interaction between the two aforementioned systems, with other systems such as: the National Education System, the National Culture System, and the Productive System, among others. Another cause worth mentioning is the existence of the Intellectual Property Law enacted on
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