Oktsec receives Partnership Catalyst Award and signs 15 letters of intent at ACE Barranquilla.

Barranquilla, Colombia, October 4, 2026 — Oktsec founder Gustavo Aragón received the Partnership Catalyst Award at the 24th Americas Competitiveness Exchange (ACE), presented by Leandro Rizzuto Jr., U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS).

During the program, Aragón signed 15 letters of intent with people and organizations from 10 countries to explore work in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and professional training. Compared with the 146 letters recorded by the City of Barranquilla across the exchange, Oktsec’s 15 represent approximately one in ten.

The ACE coordination team said the award recognized Aragón’s participation in the exchange and his work in the region through Oktsec.

15 letters across 10 countries

The prospective collaborators come from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Belize, the Dominican Republic and the United States.

Institutions represented in the conversations include the University of Illinois; Uruguay’s Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación (ANII); AudacIA at Universidad Simón Bolívar; Nuevo León’s Secretariat of Economy; Brazil’s Ministry of Entrepreneurship; the Government of Córdoba; Banco Agrícola in the Dominican Republic; and the Arizona District Export Council.

The letters record intentions to collaborate. Each initiative still requires agreement on scope, responsibilities and deliverables; the letters do not establish contracts or active projects.

Exploring AI security and training with AudacIA

One of the letters was signed with AudacIA, the Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Barranquilla. The center’s work includes AI and robotics for healthcare, transport, energy and business productivity, as well as talent development. It belongs to the OAS Prospecta Américas network of Centers of Excellence in Transformative Technologies.

The university’s account of the delegation’s visit describes those research areas. El Heraldo’s October 11 coverage also examines AudacIA and technical education during the exchange.

Oktsec plans to explore security testing and practical training with the center. Topics include testing the permissions granted to AI agents, reviewing their access to tools and data, and preparing teams to supervise their use. These are areas for discussion under the letter of intent.

From AI adoption to permissions, testing and oversight

At ACE, Aragón discussed cybersecurity, AI adoption and training needs with companies, universities and public institutions. For Oktsec, those conversations connect three parts of its work: assessing systems before deployment, defining who can authorize AI actions, and keeping evidence of the decisions made during operation.

Oktsec provides security assessments, AI governance, runtime controls and software supply chain monitoring through Signal. Controls evaluate actions routed through Oktsec against the organization’s policies and retain evidence for investigation and audit.

Training covers the decisions people need to make around those systems: what an agent may access, which actions need human approval, how to test the limits and when to stop a workflow. The proposed collaboration areas bring this work to institutional and university audiences alongside business teams.

The wider ACE Barranquilla exchange

ACE is the OAS flagship program for economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship across the Americas. The September 28–October 2 program brought business, government and academic leaders to Barranquilla for working sessions, direct meetings and visits to companies, universities and public projects.

The agenda included AudacIA, Riwi, Tecnoglass, the Port of Barranquilla, La Cayena Free Trade Zone, Promigas and Universidad del Norte. Its five areas of focus covered infrastructure and investment; digital services, technology and workforce development; industrial value chains and trade; energy; and the cultural and creative economy.

In its October 6 results report, the city identified 61 letters focused on innovation and 37 involving technical knowledge and good practices. The OAS reports that ACE has facilitated more than 1,000 regional collaboration agreements, business partnerships and joint investment initiatives through 2026.

The City of Barranquilla and El Heraldo named Aragón and Oktsec in coverage of the project visits, reporting his comments on sports venues and the city’s economy. El Tiempo, Emisora Atlántico, La Gran Noticia and Rueda La Economía also covered his remarks. Links appear below.

We thank the OAS, the ACE team, the U.S. Department of State, the City of Barranquilla and ProBarranquilla for organizing the exchange.

Discuss a project or training program

Oktsec is following up with the signatories to define possible projects. Aragón’s regional agenda continues with prospective customer meetings in Panama in October and visits to Chile and Peru planned for November.

Companies, universities and public institutions can contact Oktsec with a system they need to assess, an AI workflow they need to govern or a team they want to train. A first conversation can establish the objective, participants and proposed scope.