The power of trust and the opportunity to convene key resources and allies towards an inclusive economic growth vision.
An industrial revolution transforms our economy and society. Organizations, companies, and communities are impacted by new challenges and at the same time benefited by new opportunities. Those who are better prepared can seize and turn opportunities into strengths and advantages. Undoubtedly, the so-called digital economy or the fourth industrial revolution is already a reality that is changing our way of educating, living together, interacting, and working, among other things. The transition to an economy based on Artificial Intelligence has begun.
How well positioned are our communities to embrace the challenges and opportunities ahead?
Imagine that we could generate a vision for an inclusive economic growth model, and this vision helps us align energy, resources, and the wills of key actors in our society to equip our population with the skills and capabilities that give our community possibilities of a better livelihood.
What if we could do this in alliance with Microsoft Techspark?
Microsoft Techspark was launched 5 years ago, to date it has a presence in 8 communities where Techspark leaders collaborate with local organizations to understand challenges and explore solutions, programs, and alliances to ensure that their population has access to and benefit from the opportunities that technological advances bring.
As of March 2023, 50 regions in the United States will have the possibility of counting on the Microsoft TechSpark alliance to be supported in their digital transition plans.
A problem to help solve.
Our communities keep busy solving problems and situations of the present, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and the population in general seek to solve challenges but still lag with limited access to technological capabilities that can help them generate more innovative solutions according to current times.
It is important to have a vision and approach towards a digital transformation, and it is available and inclusive to all our population.
We must enable our regions to allow them to participate actively and purposefully in this era marked by technological changes while preventing us from having people, entrepreneurs, businesses excluded from the possibilities of economic growth.
In 2019 Ciudad Juarez had the opportunity to be selected as a Microsoft Techspark community. When we started our work here, we found three main challenges:
· A vulnerable economic development model focused only on foreign direct investment.
· A need to enable our community to generate greater innovation and added value.
· A misalignment in talent development and education capacities towards the needs of the current labor market and business.
In each of these areas we found short, medium, and long-term opportunities. We also found that there were different efforts, programs, resources, and organizations trying to generate a new form of economic development but with limited interaction, communication, collaboration, and alignment.
The Juarez Techspark Plan
Our work started defining a local plan to foster an inclusive economic development model and convene regional key players to build a new vision, to improve:
· Higher household income through:
o Better-wage jobs-creation and retention
o Higher impact entrepreneurship opportunities
· A higher capacity for digital transformation:
o Tech enablement
o More value-added processes for the industry
· Talent base economy foundations
o Alignment to current and future labor market
o Digital skills for better employment/entrepreneurship
To address these challenges, we framed three focus areas: Digital Inclusion, Digital Enablement and Digital Transformation and, in collaboration with strategic organizations, we co-defined 4 strategic key pillars:
1. Skilling, Re-skilling and Upskilling: To equip our population with digital skills that help develop STEM and employability opportunities. To this day, we have collaborated with more than 20 partners and together created 36 initiatives to benefit about 16,000 people with skills that help create better job opportunities. Main beneficiaries are students from Universities, High Schools, and the equivalent to K-9.
2. Borderplex Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: Improve the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and make it inclusive to our population.
We have collaborated with different organizations to benefit more than 7,000 people to support the articulation, improvement and promotion of the entrepreneurial and innovation platforms and programs.
3. Tech base SMEs & Increase Supply Chain Integration: Increase local tech base companies and regional industry supply base.
In alliance with 7 local partners, we have operated 10 strategic initiatives to benefit more than 300 small and medium enterprises.
4. Digital & AI Transition: Align tech base capacities, AI Agenda + Digital Economy KPIs for the city Digital Transformation.
With 15 partners we have co-designed 22 initiatives to start offering specialized talent development programs, and high-tech projects. Main beneficiaries are current industry workers, graduating students and SMEs. So far, we have impacted about 10,000 beneficiaries in this pillar.
We released The Borderplex AI Report which describes how AI and other technologies will shape our economy in the next years and are supporting the FUTURE OF WORK COMMITTEE to prepare regional actors to create better strategies to leverage current and future changes.
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Some examples of Key Initiatives:
These are three examples of key initiatives we have deployed with key local partners:
Almost 50% of the High School students in our city don´t have access to any STEM related subject as part of their education. In collaboration with FECHAC and FUNAX, we brought TEALS in partnership model, which was the first program of its kind in LATAM and key to equip our local high schools with STEM skills. The TEALS program is currently the only initiative that offers a new opportunity for this population segment. We are currently operating our second year with the participation of 11 high schools and 440 students.
The State of Chihuahua Artificial Intelligence Center, focused on equipping local talent with more advanced Digital skills.
Also, a first of its kind program. This Center has a unique model in Mexico, it is a nonprofit aimed to support underserved population and equip them with modern digital skills. In 2 years, this center has enrolled more than 7,000 students in programs like AI, Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Data Analysis, among others. Besides partnering with this nonprofit, Microsoft established in this location one of three Innovaccion Labs in the country.
In 4 years, Techspark Juarez has collaborated with more than 34 leader organizations, among them: Technology Hub, Fundación Axcel (FUNAX), USMC Strategic Alliance, Competitividad Laboral de Ciudad Juárez, FICOSEC, FECHAC, Museo del Niño de Ciudad Juárez (La Rodadora), Cluster MACH, Borderplex Alliance, Fondo Unido Chihuahua (United Way), IA Center, CMINDS, CODER, IPE, Mech Robotix, Paso del Norte Community Foundation, NADBANK, Plan Estrategico de Ciudad Juárez, Fundación Comunitaria de la Frontera Norte, Fundación Paso del Norte, Alianzas Educativas, Fab Lab Juarez, Fab Lab El Paso, Juarez Limpio, Mechatronics, NCITE, Rodisa, BINMATTER, Centro de Competitividad Chihuahua, Save The Children, Core Group, Thincrs, and Desarrollo Economico de Ciudad Juárez, with whom we have created different initiatives benefit more than 45,000 people, 900 companies and nearly 200 nonprofits.
A key role of Techspark is to advocate and foster collective action and public policy. In our region we actively participate in the following initiatives of strategic players such as:
• BORDERPLEX FOWC – Future of Work Committee for our región
• BINATIONAL TECH COUNCIL- Aimed to support digital transition of our region.
What´s next?
Moving forward we will focus on four core strategies:
Foster a Tech Intensity Matrix in collaboration with El Paso Innovation Hub, Technology Hub, IA Center, SIDE and other key players to leverage tech development current capabilities to create for value to support digital and AI Transition both for companies and entrepreneurs.
Support The Juarez Digital Economy Board in alliance with Desarrollo Economico de Ciudad Juarez, Frente Norte, CODER, Industry Consortiums, The Bridge Accelerator, SIDE and other key players to assure improvement in 7 important KPIs such as the creation and development of Tech-based companies.
Support the Network for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in partnership with Red Estatal de Emprendimiento, Tec de Monterrey, Startup Chihuahua, SIDE and other key players to equip entrepreneurs with more advanced digital skills that can strengthen their value propositions.
Consolidate the Talent Pipeline Ecosystem, in alliance with Instituto Promotor de la Educación, TEALS, CONREDES and Competitividad Laboral de Ciudad Juarez, to help automate the collaboration processes and KPIs sharing of these key players towards a digital transition and inclusive development according to the current and future labor and business market's needs.
In our region Techspark has started to convene different entities such as government, private sector, civil associations, and academia to include social and economic digital transition as a strategic topic. The Microsoft facilitates interaction and collaboration, and this helps to generate trust, teamwork and create more value-added initiatives to improve livelihood of our community. To do this, we will continue to:
· Engage community leaders to evolve our city economic development model, from a basic labor focus to a talent-based economy.
· Align talent development efforts from initial stages to labor market according to current and future needs.
· Leverage Microsoft tools and key resources to support our community transition.
· Generate trust to increase collaboration to address strategic topics in the city.
The Microsoft Techspark Expansion
Join Microsoft and community leaders from across the country to learn about new resources available for organizations focused on building inclusive economic opportunity.
We’ll share opportunities for nonprofits in rural, mid-sized and urban communities in all fifty states to receive funding, support and technical assistance.
Sparking local opportunity: Microsoft TechSpark Fellowship preview
Date: March 1, 2023
Time: 8:00am PST
Learn how your community and organization can get involved here.
Through the TechSpark program, Microsoft partners with communities to understand their unique regional challenges and to explore solutions, programs, and partnerships that will be most effective at the local level.
Thank you for your special talent to connect needs and people. We are proud to be walking with you in this vision.
Thanks! Let’s keep working together on this journey
Kudos! Incredible work!
Thank you for belive in our causes and for your contribution to multiplicate the impact.