In an increasingly polarized world, where inequality and social and economic challenges dominate the landscape, innovation is positioned as an essential tool for building a more equitable future. This is the central message that Jorge Barrero, Managing Director of the COTEC Foundation, shared in his recent interview entitled Blade Runner and why it is so difficult to predict the futurewith Generation EdTech.
During the conversation, Barrero redefined innovation as “any change, based on knowledge, that generates value“. However, he emphasized that not all innovation is technological, nor is every technological advance necessarily innovative. This nuance is crucial to understanding its impact on societies, since, according to Barrero, innovation can be both a tool for closing gaps and a generator of inequalities when access to knowledge is not democratized.
“Innovation has a dual relationship with progress.”
Barrero highlighted how innovation has historically been a double-edged sword. From the first advances in prehistoric tools to the most disruptive technologies of today, there has always been a tension between progress and the generation of new gaps. For this reason, he stressed the importance of working to ensure that these inequalities are temporary and not geographically limited.
“The world of Blade Runner is similar in some ways to the world of today.”
One of the most interesting moments of the interview was when Barrero used the iconic movie Blade Runner to illustrate how technological predictions often fail. “The world of Blade Runner envisioned a 2019 full of flying cars and robots, but failed to foresee technologies such as mobile telephony or the graphical interface, which already existed in the 1980s,” he commented. This example underlines that the future is not only built from imagination, but from strategic action.
“Measuring innovation is about data; promoting it is about stories.”
The COTEC Foundation works to democratize innovation, promoting not only its technological dimension, but also its impact on organization, regulation and culture. For Barrero, the challenge is to transform innovation into a tool accessible to all, helping to close gaps and building a fairer and more resilient economy.
“Not everything has to change.”
In an unexpected twist, Barrero closed the interview with a message: “Not everything needs to change“. Sometimes, sticking with what works is as important as innovating, a valuable lesson in a world obsessed with constant change.
From his strategic vision to his inclusive approach, Jorge Barrero reminds us that innovation is more than technological advances: it is a human process, with the power to transform societies. His work at the COTEC Foundation is an invitation to reflect on how to build a future that benefits everyone, leaving no one behind.
