07 Mar The Copa Robótica — A National Robotics Competition Transforming Argentina

For more than 10 years, FIRST Global’s partner in Argentina, Educabot, has been forming a new generation of Argentineans capable of using technology in the search for creative solutions to real problems. But it was Team Argentina’s participation in the FIRST Global Challenge that inspired them to take this effort to the next level with a national robotics competition of their own.

For the 2017 and 2018 FIRST Global Challenges, they had selected students from their organization’s workshops to represent Argentina. However, while attending the closing ceremony of the 2018 edition in Mexico City, Educabot CEO and co-founder Matías Scovotti felt moved. This was a competition unlike any other; the most important objective was not to win, but to inspire others to learn about global issues, connect across cultures, and collaborate. He had an idea — what if they hosted something like this in Argentina?

Upon returning home, Matías and Educabot got to work. They connected with provincial ministries of education, as well as public and private institutions. They built a national network and selected one partner for each province of Argentina who was then tasked with sourcing their team.

The effort quickly grew to be bigger than they could have imagined, involving government, corporate sponsors, and kids from every region of the country. Each team was provided with a kit with which to build a robot to compete in the inaugural Copa Robótica competition in 2019.

A few months later, 24 teams met in Buenos Aires to compete in a 25,000-capacity arena. They proudly waved their provincial flags in the opening ceremony, collaborated on and off the playing fields, and connected with fellow STEM-enthusiasts. It was an inspiring coming-together of the next generation of leaders and changemakers for Argentina and the world.

By the end of the weekend, one region’s months of work paid off big — the team from Misiones was crowned the champion and awarded the honor of representing the country in the 2019 FIRST Global Challenge in Dubai.

Within a year, Educabot had successfully achieved Matías’ dream, and in the process accomplished so much more.

From a country that is not an economic power, an event can be held that really has a positive impact on the entire community,' said Matías. 'It allows us to meet and bring together all the actors of robotics in our country, thus creating a community that transcends the event and whose networks have enriched each other, both adults and participants.”

After seeing the immense success of the initiative, Educabot continued to grow the program. Although activities paused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were back in 2021 with a successful remote format. The winning team, hailing from the province of La Rioja, then went on to create an innovative offline STEM education system as part of the 2021 FIRST Global Challenge.

As Educabot continues expanding their work, they’ve already seen successful returns with participants going on to pursue STEM in higher education.

“We need educational platforms that ensure the learning experience for anyone in the world. Educabot is on that path, and we work every day on proposals to think about a world where more and more boys and girls are protagonists of their futures who can choose and bet on something as exciting as technology,” said Matías.

The Copa Robótica serves as a multiplier, magnifying the impact of FIRST Global to ultimately empower millions of Argentinean youth through the exciting fields of STEM and robotics. These are much more than competitions; they’re life-changing experiences that leave a lasting impact.

“FIRST Global changes you as a person,” said Matías. “It changes the way you see the world forever.”