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 assumed his duties on November 15, 2023.

The Deputy Executive Secretary is Colombian. He served as a Full Professor at Universidad del Valle (Colombia) from 1993 to 2023 and held the positions of Vice Rector for Research and Director of the University’s Planning Office. He has produced an extensive body of work on foresight and development planning, for which he was recognized as a Corresponding Member of the Colombian Academy of Economic Sciences in 2021. He completed his Ph.D. 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 distinguished pioneer in futures studies. He also holds a Master’s degree in Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Universidad del Valle.

Medina Vásquez served as Head of the National Technological and Industrial Foresight Program at Colciencias—now the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia (2003–2007)—and as Coordinator of the Open Network for Foresight and Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ibero-American Programme on Science and Technology for Development (CYTED) (2017–2022). He has participated in international activities of ECLAC’s Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES) and other organizations. His experience demonstrates strong management capabilities in positions of high responsibility, as well as extensive national and international, interinstitutional, and interministerial coordination; planning and implementation of complex projects; and the ability to work in interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary teams. These qualities contribute to strengthening a foresight-oriented and strategic culture within ECLAC.