This public-private initiative was founded in 2005 by the Universidad Católica del Norte (UCN), the University of Antofagasta (UA), the Regional Government of Antofagasta, CORFO’s Innova Chile program, Codelco Norte and the National Association of Copper Supervisors, ANSCO.
Its aim is to generate favorable scenarios for the development and funding of new businesses, fostering entrepreneurship within the university, business and regional communities.
CEAZA aims to promote scientific and technological development in the Region of Coquimbo, through high-level scientific and technological research oriented towards understanding the effects of climatic/oceanographic fluctuations on the hydrological cycle and biological productivity (both natural and cultivated) of the arid and marine ecosystems of Chile’s center-north.
CEAZA achieves this aim by building advanced human capital and supporting regional productivity, environmental protection and education, contributing in this way to the improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of the Region of Coquimbo.
The Center for Scientific and Technological Research in Mining (CICITEM) was founded by the Regional Government of Antofagasta, The National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT), the Universidad Católica del Norte and the University of Antofagasta, with support from the private sector.
Its main objectives are to generate knowledge relating to the biodiversity of arid, semiarid and hyper-arid regions of the Atacama Desert, as well as other specific sites, contributing in this way to the Regional Mining Cluster Project, promoting development in the Region of Antofagasta and providing scientific and technological knowledge to the mining industry.