Conference Agenda

SMEs play an important role in the economy, particularly in developing countries such as Latin America (Latam), since they generate between 25% - 40% of the national GDP, and generate among 60% - 70% of the total jobs. Nevertheless, their vulnerability is high, as it is expressed by the survival time, depending on economic conditions of the market, it expected 50%-60% them do not to overcome the first two years of operation, and only between 20% and 30% manage to consolidate and remain active after five years. This work is the result of a collaborative project between professors of Industrial Engineering and Production Engineering from Universities in Peru, Colombia, and Mexico, who proposed study the Latin American SMEs, try to understand their risk exposure, risk categorization, and challenges. Three risk categories have been defined: internal, external and meso, identify them by the decision-making that gave rise to the root cause of the exposure to risk. In total, 14 companies were interviewed from different sectors, 44% manufacturing, 38% commercial, and 19% service. The results indicate, in the case external risk, 56% are associated with inbound and outbound logistics and natural phenomena (e.g. earthquake), mainly in companies dedicated to the industrial sector. Among the internal risks, the most vulnerable sector is industrial, with 43% of these risks coming from operations and management. Among meso risks, the most vulnerable sector is that of commercial companies, accounting for 52% of administrative and information management risks.

The social reality of Honduras, along with its regulatory framework and historical background has been marked by emblematic events in politics and democracy, which have generated multiple challenges in the country. The weakening of the democratic model has negatively impacted the rule of law, a highly relevant issue considering that the upcoming elections in Honduras will take place in 2025. This article analyzes the perception of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) regarding the democratic environment in Honduras, in the context of the presidential elections of 2025.The research was conducted as part of the International Relations Research course and adopts a qualitative approach. Through 11 semi-structured interviews with representatives of these organizations, the importance of citizen participation in strengthening democracy is underscored. Although certain advances have been made, significant challenges remain, such as a lack of trust in government institutions and electoral processes, which could affect the upcoming electoral process.Interviewees emphasize the reciprocal relationship between democracy and citizenship; an effective democracy requires active and committed citizenship in all processes, not just during elections. Additionally, transparency is fundamental; a widespread perception of transparency fosters trust and, consequently, greater citizen engagement. However, this can only be achieved through institutional strengthening.

This research describes, from a quantitative approach, the implementation of reliability-oriented maintenance methodologies in the printing industry. The results obtained were aimed at identifying and mitigating the main causes of production defects and machinery downtime. This study was carried out due to the constant problems in the machines, which present a high level of wear and obsolescence, frequent failures that generate downtime in production, decreasing operational efficiency and causing delays in product delivery. Key concepts related to maintenance, failure modeling and operational efficiency were analyzed. Quality analysis tools were used, such as Ishikawa and Pareto diagrams, which facilitated the identification and evaluation of the main causes of mechanical and operational failures in the production process, carried out in structured phases. These include from the hierarchization, prioritization of assets, exhaustive analysis of criticality, to the implementation of preventive maintenance programs. The results showed a significant improvement: MTBF increased by 43.8%, from 12.22 to 17.57 hours, and MTTR decreased by 27.5%, from 1.75 to 1.27 hours. In addition, machine availability improved by 5.1%, reaching an average of 93.1%. These improvements reflect increased operational reliability, reduced production defects and a positive impact on the quality of the final product.

The transition towards smart government in Colombia faces a duality: advances in urban areas contrast with gaps in rural regions. This article analyzes the evolution of smart government research between 2003 and 2025 through a bibliometric analysis of 599 papers indexed in Scopus. Using tools such as VOSviewer and Bibliometrix, three thematic clusters were identified: disruptive technologies (AI, blockchain), digital governance (e-governance, big data) and digital transformation. The results show an exponential growth of publications after 2020, driven by the pandemic and the Digital Transformation Plan 2022-2026. However, research is dominated by international networks, with low representation of local authors and 92% of local publications in non-indexed journals, limiting their global impact. Critical gaps were identified, such as the lack of adaptation of technologies. The study concludes that it is necessary to prioritize investment in infrastructure, strengthen local research networks and promote a global approach that balances technological innovation with social inclusion, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The health sector in Ecuador and in any country constitutes fundamental support for the well-being and care of its population, regardless of whether it is private or public, and it is also recognized that the industries associated with this sector are a fundamental engine in the economy of the countries. countries. The main objective of this work is focused on identifying the main banks that granted lines of credit to this sector and if there is any relationship between the credits received and their operating income, in addition to determining if there is evidence that the credits granted to this sector were given based on their capital structure. This research was descriptive, quantitative and transversal, the credit information was obtained from the Superintendency of Banks of Ecuador and the income information was obtained from the Superintendency of Securities and Insurance Companies of Ecuador. For the development of this work, algorithms such as linear regression, coefficient of determination and classification tree were used. The main results obtained are that five banks concentrate 79.18% of the credits granted during the period 2020 -2023, the Wholesale and Retail Trade of Health Products industry, was the one with the highest credit obtained, and was the only health industry that presented a relationship between credits and sales (R2 0.91), on the other hand It was observed that there is no evidence that credits for this sector are granted due to its capital structure but rather due to the guarantee that the businesses can present.