Javier Medina Vásquez, Deputy Executive Secretary

Javier Enrique Medina Vásquez was appointed Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) by the Commission’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, and took office on 15 November 2023.

The Deputy Executive Secretary is Colombian. From 1993 to 2023, he was a Professor at Universidad del Valle (Colombia), and was also Vice Rector of Research and Director of the Planning Office at the university. He has produced an extensive body of work on foresight and development planning, for which he was admitted as a corresponding member of the Colombian Academy of Economics in 2021. He completed his doctorate in Social Sciences at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (1997–2001), specializing in Human and Social Foresight, under the supervision of Eleonora Barbieri Masini, a renowned pioneer of futures studies. He also holds a Master of Business Administration and a bachelor’s degree in psychology, both from Universidad del Valle.

From 2003 to 2007, Mr. Medina Vásquez was Head of the National Technology and Industry Foresight Programme of the National Council for Science and Technology (Colciencias) of Colombia—which later became the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation— and from 2017 to 2022 he was Coordinator of the Open Network of Foresight and Innovation for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ibero-American Programme of Science and Technology for Development (CYTED). He has participated in the international work of the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) of ECLAC and other bodies. His experience demonstrates not only his management expertise in high-level positions that call for careful coordination at the national, international, inter-agency and interministerial levels, but also his capacity to plan and implement complex projects, as well his ability to work in inter-, multi- and trans-disciplinary teams. All of these skills are valuable contributions to building a culture of foresight and strategic thinking at ECLAC.