Welcome to the 3rd Annual SCIP Latin American Summit

It is with great excitement that I welcome you to the 3rd Latin American Summit for Competitive Intelligence Professionals. In 2009 we held our inaugural event in Latin America in Sao Paulo followed by our second event in October of 2010. The two events were resounding successes and the 3rd Summit is evolving as the premier event in Latin America for CI professionals to build a community, exchange best practices, and learn from a broad contingent of domestic and international leaders in the community and provide a forum for service providers and practitioners to interact in a collegial environment. 

The global economic climate has evolved with Brazil, India and China leading a recovery in many industries, while Europe and the United States struggle to put the financial issues of 2008 and 2009 behind them. This changing economic landscape makes it imperative that the CI community remain in tune with both the global and the domestic evolution of their industry and the broader economy in which they operate. This conference endeavors to provide you with not only the latest in tools, techniques, and action plans for the future in your respective industries, but a platform to learn from both presenters and peers.

The program was developed with the assistance of an insightful committee comprised of Felipe Game of Embraer, Fernando Domingues of Mentor Consulting, Fernando de Almeida of ADVS/Academy CI, Adrian Alvarez of Midas Consulting, Yvelise Tonon of Informa and Edson Ito of Givaudan SA. The committee’s objective was to provide a program that offered global, regional, and local perspectives on the profession and the current climate for Competitive Intelligence Professionals. When you see these individuals, please take a moment to thank them for their volunteer efforts.

SCIP as an organization strives to build a community of peers, provide continuing education and thought leadership in the practice of CI and in 2011 has added professional certification on a global basis to match the evolving needs of our members. This conference serves as a focal point to reestablish contact with old friends and meet those new peers who will help your career move forward.  As an outgrowth of the event, we now have a rapidly growing local SCIP chapter led by Edson Ito, the opportunity to start your certification journey, and the chance to continue learning from your peers in a conference setting.

We are honored to have two distinguished gentlemen to keynote the conference- Mailson da Nobrega of Tendências Cosultoria Integrada (formerly Finance Minister of Brazil) discussing the  Prospects for the Brazilian  Economy and the Growth Opportunities on October 4th, and Dr. John Prescott of the University of Pittsburgh discussing Global Market Convergence on October 5th. The conference will conclude on October 6th with workshops designed for both the senior practitioner and someone who is in the early stages of their CI career.
I look forward to meeting each of you personally in Sao Paulo.

Ken Garrison
CEO
Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals