One of the key features of the ACE is its capacity to connect decision-makers from the Americas and beyond and to serve as a catalyst to strengthen commercial ties and leaders from the region.

ACE was created in 2014 by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of State, and the Organization of American States (OAS). The ACE is convened in the context of the RIAC by its Chair Pro Tempore (revolving every two years- currently Ecuador); the Government of the United States, through the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of State; and the General Secretariat of the OAS as the RIAC Technical Secretariat.

The ACE is one week-long immersion program where 50 top global and regional leaders can deep dive into a community and ecosystem to learn about the sites and projects leading economic development, fostering innovation, and entrepreneurship.

ACE has inspired, facilitated, and provided concrete results and mutually beneficial opportunities from acceleration and incubation programs to soft landing of companies and ventures.

Examples of Recognition and Adoption: ACE was recognized as part of the 2016 North American Competitiveness Work Plan, agreed to by Presidents Obama and Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the North American Leaders Summit (NALS) held in Ottawa, Canada, and the ACE Network was featured by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) by the Global Partnership Initiative (GPI) on Effective Triangular Co-operation in their report “Triangular Co-operation in the Era of the2030 Agenda”. 

Two ACEs occur per year, and thirteen programs have been implemented in total since 2014 in the top ecosystems of the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Israel, and Germany.