The 7th Annual Smart IP Conference for Latin America took place on 13 May 2026 at the San Andrés Campus of the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (UCSC) in Concepción, Chile. The opening ceremony and welcome addresses were delivered by Dr Ana Narváez Dinamarca, Vice-Rector of the UCSC, Dr Carlos Céspedes Muñoz, Dean of the UCSC Faculty of Law, and Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Reto Hilty, Director Emeritus of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition and Director of the SIPLA Initiative.
The event was dedicated to analysing hydrogen—and, in particular, green hydrogen produced from renewable sources—as one of Latin America’s key energy, industrial and technological priorities.
The conference was based on a central premise: the region possesses natural conditions, emerging technical capabilities, industrial sectors requiring decarbonisation, and expanding national strategies to participate in the development of a global low-emission hydrogen market. However, the discussions agreed that this potential does not automatically translate into sustainable development. Its realisation requires infrastructure, cost reduction, regulation, certification, governance, financing, social legitimacy and the development of local technological capabilities.
The opening session emphasised that hydrogen should not be viewed as an isolated promise or a magic solution, but rather as a tool within a broader transformation: energy transition, industrial decarbonisation, energy security, technological innovation and Latin America’s integration into new global value chains. The strategic importance of intellectual property was also highlighted in light of the concentration of patents in critical technologies.
The programme was structured around four panels that allowed for a comprehensive examination of hydrogen. The first panel, “Hydrogen Technologies and Their Derivatives”, analysed the current state and prospects of technologies related to the production, processing, transport and use of hydrogen and its derivatives. The presentations highlighted Chile’s advantages in positioning itself as a producer and exporter, as well as specific projects related to logistics, long-range trucks, developments at the UCSC Energy Centre, biofuels, sustainable aviation fuels and component manufacturing.
The panel provided an opportunity to compare regional experiences and highlighted that hydrogen will coexist with other sustainable alternatives, such as biogas and ethanol, which are particularly relevant in countries such as Brazil. It was also emphasised that technological scaling up will depend on coordination between research, industry and public policy, on the existence of sufficient demand, and on the ability to transform pilot projects into competitive production solutions.
The second panel, “Regulatory Framework, Governance and Certification”, addressed the legal and institutional conditions necessary to provide certainty for the development of sustainable hydrogen projects. The conclusions highlighted the importance of having clear, stable and coordinated regulatory frameworks; reliable environmental standards; robust certification mechanisms; coordinated permitting processes; and traceability systems capable of verifying the origin, emissions and environmental performance of hydrogen produced in the region.
The presentations agreed that the current challenge is no longer solely technical, but regulatory and institutional. The Biobío experience demonstrated a significant shift in focus: moving from viewing green hydrogen as an industry in its own right to understanding it as a tool for productive competitiveness, industrial decarbonisation and the generation of local value. It was also emphasised that governance must ensure transparency, institutional leadership, public-private coordination and concrete benefits for the territories involved.
The third panel, “Innovation and potential in Latin America: intellectual property and industrial capabilities”, focused on the role the region could play within the hydrogen technology value chain. The presentations agreed that Latin America faces the risk of becoming established solely as a producer or exporter of low-carbon hydrogen, whilst continuing to depend on electrolysers, components, catalysts, software, maintenance, certification and technical expertise developed outside the region.
In light of this, the need to strengthen local capabilities in research, process integration, industrial adaptation, technology watch, freedom-to-operate analysis, knowledge management and intellectual property strategies was highlighted. The value of the information contained in patent documents for identifying gaps, technologies in the public domain and opportunities for local innovation was emphasised. In this vein, intellectual property was presented not only as a potential constraint, but also as a tool to guide decisions on investment, technological cooperation and industrial development.
Finally, the fourth panel, “Developing a sustainable hydrogen market in Latin America”, examined the conditions necessary for hydrogen to establish itself as a viable, competitive and socially legitimate regional market. The discussions highlighted that electrification must be a priority wherever possible, but that hydrogen and its derivatives play a decisive role in sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as maritime transport, aviation, mining, the chemical industry and industrial heating. It was also emphasised that international demand will be increasingly regulated, particularly by European instruments that create more predictable markets for clean fuels.
The panel emphasised that green hydrogen is not extracted, but is a manufactured vector whose viability depends on engineering processes, technology transfer, financing, infrastructure, standards and cooperation. Consequently, market development requires public support in the early stages, financial instruments, guarantees, international cooperation, joint ventures, trust among stakeholders and early intellectual property strategies. The construction of regional value chains requires a shift from isolated projects to hubs, from national hubs to a Latin American strategy, and from the export of resources to the creation of knowledge, skilled employment and local value.
Overall, the 7th SIPLA Conference provided a forum for academic, technical, business and institutional dialogue on hydrogen as a strategic opportunity for Latin America. The conclusions of the four panels showed that the sector’s future will depend on the region’s capacity to coordinate natural resources, regulation, innovation, intellectual property, certification, financing and industrial development. In this vein, the Conference reaffirmed the importance of approaching hydrogen not only as an energy carrier, but as a decisive field for considering Latin America’s technological, productive and sustainable integration into the global economy.
Program
