RESUMEN ANALITICO Este articulo presenta una descripcion del estado actual de la ciencia, tecnologia e innovacion en el departamento de Santander. Para la investigacion se realizo un estudio de las politicas publicas de ciencia, tecnologia e innovacion (CTI) a nivel mundial, en America latina y Colombia. Posteriormente, se revisaron las iniciativas que han fomentado la CTI en Santander, se caracterizaron los actores del sistema regional de ciencia, tecnologia e innovacion, se comparo el estado actual de la CTI en Santander con cuatro regiones de referencia y se identifcaron acciones para superar las actuales limitaciones del sistema regional de innovacion del departamento colombiano. Los resultados de la investigacion evidenciaron que si bien es cierto, los actores del sistema han dado importantes pasos para el avance del sistema de innovacion, las iniciativas departamentales presentan una baja relacion con la ciencia, tecnologia e innovacion, la distribucion geografca de los actores del SRI en el departamento es desigual, los porcentajes de relacion entre estos son bajos y la ejecucion de las actividades de ciencia, tecnologia e innovacion no son las mejores del pais. El Departamento se destaca en la nacion por la formacion de capital humano, en cobertura y calidad en comparacion con los demas regiones del pais. PALABRAS CLAVES: Ciencia, Tecnologia, Innovacion, Sistema de Innovacion, Politicas Publicas, Santander. APPROXIMATION OF THE REGIONAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION SYSTEM OF SANTANDER ANALYTICAL SUMMARY This paper presents a description of the current situation of the science, technology and innovation in Santander. In order to meet the proposed objective, a study of the science, technology and innovation (STI) public policy was done worldwide, in Latin America and in Colombia. Subsequently, the initiatives that have been adopted on STI in Santander were reviewed and the actors of the regional system of science, technology and innovation (RSSTI) were characterized. Finally, the paper shows a comparison of the current state of the STI in Santander with four reference regions and identifes actions to overcome the current limitations of the regional innovation system of the Colombian region. The research results show that even though the RSSTI actors' have taken important steps to the progress of the innovation system in Santander, the regional initiatives have had low connection with STI. Additionally, the analysis shows that the geographical distribution of the RSSTI actors' in the region is unequal, the relationship percentages between them are low and the implementation of activities in science, technology and innovation are not the best in the country. The Region stands out in the nation for human capital formation: coverage and quality, compared with the other regions. KEYWORDS: Science, Technology, Innovation, Regional Innovation System, Public Policy, Santander.