This is the first output of the Competitiveness Lab Initiative. Latin American leaders face a challenge and an opportunity to boost competitiveness by addressing the region’s productivity lag. Supporting a transition towards higher productivity levels – which requires improving the functioning of its institutions; the quality of infrastructure; the allocation of production factors; and, crucially, strengthening the region’s skills, technology and innovation base will be key to the region’s well-being and prosperity. This report analyses the current situation and challenges in Latin America’s skills and innovation landscape and recommends ways to address these challenges. This effort is the first output of the Competitiveness Lab initiative, which will continue to focus on key competitiveness issues and challenges of global relevance and applicability in other regions and/or countries. The Competitiveness Lab seeks to achieve this by designing competitiveness strategies, defining policies in specific areas of competitiveness and facilitating public-private collaborations.