In a context where many cities face budgetary constraints, growing social demands, and structural governance challenges, public innovation has gained relevance as a key strategy for transforming the State. In Latin America, the city of Córdoba (Argentina) stands out for having implemented its own Govtech strategy, with a strong emphasis on public-private collaboration, openness to entrepreneurs, and the incorporation of emerging technologies. This commitment, led by its municipal innovation laboratory, proposes a replicable model for modernization, institutional agility, and impact generation.

One of the driving forces behind this transformation is CorLab, the “Public Innovation and Govtech Laboratory of the Municipality of Córdoba,” conceived as a bridge between municipal challenges and the innovative solutions of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. CorLab designs and promotes an “open innovation” scheme: it detects public challenges, invites entrepreneurs to propose solutions, evaluates possibilities, supports pilots, and facilitates adoption.

To institutionalize this approach, Córdoba took a fundamental step with the creation of the Córdoba Smart City Fund (Fondo CCI), the first public Govtech fund in Latin America, an initiative of the Municipality of Córdoba in alliance with IDB Lab. This program, whose executing unit is CorLab, was created through a municipal ordinance in 2021 and uses venture capital instruments, combining State resources and institutional private co-investment to support startups aimed at solving the city’s challenges.

The Fund’s objective goes beyond financing projects: it seeks for these ventures to validate their solutions in a real-world setting, within the city, generating evidence, contextual adaptations, and concrete public value. So far, the Fund has invested nearly 2 million dollars in 22 startups, consolidating a diverse portfolio that covers verticals such as education, environment, mobility, health, smart cities, and govtech.

This model provides three key elements for public impact transformation:

• First: it converts the State into an intelligent innovation partner, assuming shared risks and allowing the exploration of new solutions.
• Second: it enables the local entrepreneurial ecosystem to offer technologies adapted to the territory, fostering the knowledge economy and strengthening local capacities.
• Third: it facilitates the development of a consolidated Govtech ecosystem, where pilot experiences can scale, replicate, and position themselves as a reference for other cities.

One of the most relevant achievements of CorLab and the Fondo CCI has been to mobilize an ecosystem that until then remained dispersed: open calls, startup radars, public challenges, collaborative pilots, and project acceleration. This ecosystem not only favors the generation of technical solutions but also promotes a culture of innovation within the State: trained officials, internal areas enabled to collaborate, and a collection of proven solutions that reduce resistance to change.

Added to this is the progressive integration of emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data governance, as strategic areas of the new stage of Córdoba’s Govtech agenda. The responsible use of AI in governments demands a solid, interoperable, and transparent data architecture to ensure equity, control, and traceability. In line with international recommendations on innovation in the public sector, Córdoba is working towards a “single data” model that enables systemic improvements in services, operational efficiency, and evidence-based policy design. This commitment to data governance converts the city into a platform prepared to incorporate advanced technological solutions without institutional fragmentation or duplication of efforts.

The combination of these elements—open innovation, smart public financing, an active entrepreneurial ecosystem, and data governance—places Córdoba at the forefront among Latin American cities seeking to redefine public administration. But its value transcends the symbolic: it represents a practical example of how to transform institutions, not just services; of how to build internal capacities and external alliances to generate real solutions with social impact and possible scale.

In a world where urban challenges multiply—demographic growth, inequalities, environmental crises, demand for digital services, the urgency of social inclusion—public innovation ceases to be an option: it becomes a necessity. In this context, the experience of Córdoba demonstrates that it is not just about technology, but about governance, strategy, community, and collective vision. If the city manages to sustain the institutionalization of its Govtech model, maintain the entrepreneurial momentum, and consolidate its data architecture, it can become a city in permanent transformation, with adaptable, replicable solutions and real impact.

Thus, Córdoba offers a concrete roadmap for other cities, large or small, that wish to move towards more sustainable, inclusive, and innovative governments. And that, undoubtedly, is the type of contribution that the Govtech 4 Impact World Congress 2026 promotes: sharing experiences, learnings, and possible paths to reinvent the public sphere with technology, collective intelligence, and social commitment.

1. Designate an executive unit in charge of the innovation program: Creation of the Public Innovation and Govtech Laboratory of the City of Córdoba, “CorLab,” in May 2020.
2. Map the govtech ecosystem to identify all its relevant actors: Survey and systematization of the ecosystem through the publications of the Startup Monitor Yearbook (2020 – 2025) and the Govtech Radar.
3. Promote linkage through Demo Days: Between 2021 and 2025, 89 (eighty-nine) Demo Days were held, in which 104 (one hundred and four) ventures and 104 (one hundred and four) public officials participated.
4. Design and call for public innovation challenges to connect innovative solutions with public problems: 13 public innovation challenges were launched, resulting in 81 pilot projects executed with an investment of 650 thousand USD.
5. Strengthen capacities in public servants: Awareness and training in innovation for more than 921 public agents and officials.
6. Provide comprehensive support to startups: Support for 132 govtech ventures through incubation, acceleration, and bootcamp programs.
7. Articulate between public and private institutions: More than 89 meetings were held between ventures and officials of our municipality to facilitate the implementation of govtech solutions in the city.
8. Generate a public financing mechanism: Through the Córdoba Smart City Fund, the Municipality invested as a partner in 22 startups providing impact solutions.

Why is Córdoba’s experience important for the global Govtech agenda?

The experience in the City of Córdoba provides learnings applicable to any city seeking to innovate with technology in an inclusive manner and with measurable impact.

• The State as an innovation platform: The Fondo CCI is constituted as a public policy that uses state support to scale innovative solutions in real contexts.
• Public-private articulation as an engine: It is not only about financing startups but about co-designing, testing, and implementing solutions with the active participation of the State, allied institutions, and the entrepreneurial team.
• Emerging technologies applied with a social purpose: Instead of abstract or trendy tendencies, the Córdoba model seeks to apply innovative solutions to real problems.
• Innovation laboratories as bridges. CorLab is an example of a govtech innovation laboratory that articulates public policy, technology, and citizenship:
  • links real State needs with the local and regional innovation ecosystem.
  • evaluates solutions.
  • supports pilots.
  • facilitates implementation and scalability.
• Concrete results, not just pilots: Successful cases move beyond the testing stage and scale towards public policies with real impact.