My morning started off with the best croissant I have ever had in my life. What a great way to begin my day. After this, we all took a nice morning walk to the Austral downtown campus where are we listened to a lecture about innovation in healthcare and the innovation process overall by Ezequiel Banga.

At the beginning of the lecture, he talked about his process of innovation. The most significant part of this that stood out to me is how he views failure. To him, failure is a stepping stone for the next success. This means that when you fail an innovation you do not start from scratch but you start from a better foundation for the next invention. After this he explained his current projects. The first project it’s called Fivi.  It is a system that reduces waiting time in places like hospitals and restaurants as well as supplies analytics for companies in order to increase efficiency and better understand the scheduling of their appointments. The second project that he discussed is called Guard IA. This app focuses on efficient scheduling. The two applications of it so far is for scheduling doctors in the most efficient way so their shifts do not overlap or conflict with the doctor’s preferences and the other is for booking surgical rooms which allows for the hospital to be more efficient and profitable while providing surgeries to their patients.

We topped off the day with a visit to La Boca, one of the oldest and most vibrant neighborhoods in the city of Buenos Aires. Here, we looked at the Boca Juniors Stadium, lots of street art, and we were able to shop at the street vendors and market for souvenirs for family and friends. This definitely has to be one of my favorite cultural activities of the trip so far. I love seeing all of the vibrant colors of the buildings and I made sure I took lots of pictures. This location has really inspired me to make some artwork of the buildings when I get home. Being in the Boca, even with many renovations the colors and architectural style still reflect the traditional neighborhood. This is something rare that you do not often see, as normally when things are updated, they are made to look new and not to look more authentic.

As we discussed with innovation, not everything lasts forever. This means that something my get disregarded from the past when a new and better versions come to fruition. The discrepancy is when you need to decide what stays and what goes. I believe that innovation should never compromise culture. Innovation should always be implemented with technology, especially when it helps others, but it should not entirely disregard the past. Just like what our speaker said, the past is a stepping stone for the future, not the end. Implement what needs to be implemented but remember and preserve the past for others in the future to learn, appreciate, and remember. La Boca has been successful in preserving what needs to be. They have made updates and replaced things but they still resemble the tradition of the location. I think this is mostly because of the community. It was mentioned that living in La Boca is like living in a bubble and these people have a lot of pride for their bubble. When people take pride in the past they have an effort to take care of it and defend it in the face of changes. I also think that the new art in La Boca has embraced this too. It is a different style but it maintains the same vibrant colors to make the rainbow of a neighborhood. This shows also that even with innovation and changes, the past will still show and be preserved as it should be. This does not mean that innovation is bad, just that it should not always be the priority.

¡Hasta mañana!