Mexico’s Mining Industry

18 Negocios ProMéxico Negocios ProMéxico 19
The laTesT inTel on
mexiCo’s BoominG iT
indusTRy
Rated the world’s third-largest exporter of IT services, the
value of the Mexican market has quadrupled in the last decade.
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by karla garduño
photos archive
The value of Mexico’s IT market
has quadrupled in the last decade,
climbing from 4 billion usd in
2002 to approximately 16 billion
in 2012, according to estimates by the National
Chamber of the Electronics, Telecommunications
and IT Industries (CANIETI).
On a par, exports grew from 1.75 billion
usd in 2002 to 4.49 billion in 2011, rising to
an estimated 6 billion usd in 2012.
Mexico’s free-trade agreements with the
US –which purchases 80% of the country’s
IT exports– and other countries, as well as
low-cost opportunities arising from Mexico’s
proximity to major technology
producers and consumers are
just two of the factors that have
fueled that growth.
According to CANIETI
President Santiago Gutiérrez, a
government policy specifically
designed to promote the sector
has also been instrumental in
achieving these figures, in the
sense that it has rallied educational
authorities and the industry around
common goals.
“The potential to do business is always
your starting point. If you have that potential
and it’s further enhanced by favorable
public and educational policies, training
and certification, then you have all the elements
you need to seize that opportunity,”
says Gutiérrez.
Just over a dozen states in Mexico have
managed to implement the “triple helix”
concept, i.e. in addition to aligning the interests
of the industry with public policy, they
have synched education, both at university
level and in terms of training and certification,
with the sector’s needs.
Jalisco, Nuevo León, Baja California,
Querétaro, Chihuahua, Estado de México
and Mexico City are some of the entities
that have successfully implemented the “triple
helix” concept. Not surprisingly, these
are the states with the highest IT output.
In recent years, Mexico has migrated
from traditional manufacturing to a more
specialized, added-value business model.
Multinationals have set up research and
design centers in the country and Mexico’s
engineers have a reputation for being highly
creative and innovative.
“Mexico attracts complex projects that
demand enormous creativity, great ingenuity
and a lot of analysis,” concludes Gutiérrez.
programs To geT aheaD
To foster greater cooperation and promote
the growth of Mexico’s IT industry, CANI-
ETI has introduced two programs. The first
is México IT (2005), which focuses on participation
in international events and trade
fairs in an effort to build bridges between
Mexico’s IT enterprises and the world’s
leading consulting firms and analysts, so as
to familiarize them with the value of these
companies, says CANIETI Director General
Rogelio Garza Garza.
“Why are analysts needed? Because the
IT sector behaves in the same way as the
stock exchange. If analysts, who are specialists
in their field, speak highly of you, people
take notice. It’s like being given a triple ‘A’
investment rating,” states Garza Garza.
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In addition to funds put up by the IT
companies wishing to participate in these
events, México IT is financed by government
initiatives like the Software Industry
Development Program (Prosoft).
The second program is México FIRST
(2009), which also has access to Prosoft
funding, except in this case subsidies are
channeled through companies to individuals.
Training for software developers, certification
of human capital, the development
of technological platforms and the setting
up of design and innovation centers are just
some of the benefits the program offers.
México FIRST has 380 certification options
and has certified some 34,000 individuals
to date. “We are constantly monitoring
the market, singling out platforms that can
be developed to help Mexican enterprises
strengthen their productive capacity and
human capital, so they can develop their domestic
market and go on to seek out niches
on international markets,” adds Garza Garza.
sTrengThs
Thanks to a well structured public policy,
combined with the efforts of the industry
itself and the number of qualified engineers
graduating from the country’s universities
–over 75,000 a year according to the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO)–Mexico’s IT industry
has earned international recognition.
Gartner, one of the most prestigious IT
consulting and research firms in the world,
rates Mexico third in terms of exports, just
behind India and the Philippines.
Other firms like Forrester and A.T. Kearney
rank Mexico fifth and sixth, respectively,
while KPMG acknowledges it to be the
most competitive option for the location of
diverse IT service sectors.
Software development, cell phone manufacturing
and advanced manufacturing processes
in the fields of aeronautics, biomedicine
and electronic components are some of
the strengths of Mexico’s IT industry, says
Director General of the Mexican IT Industries
Association (AMITI), Javier Allard.
AMITI represents 230 companies that
are working to encourage other produc-
tive sectors to adopt IT solutions
as a means of boosting
the country’s competitiveness.
According to Allard, a fourpronged
approach has been taken.
The first step has been to encourage
more enterprises, associations,
universities and government
agencies to make greater
use of IT. Second, the association
is working hand-in-hand with
México IT and is helping enterprises develop
their capacities with a view to promoting exports.
Third is the training of human capital
with the support of México FIRST. And, finally,
there is the relationship with the government,
both as an IT user and in its role as a
promoter and regulator of the industry.
“From here, a series of activities involving
ties with universities, educational associations
and different levels of government
emanate. The final goal of all this is
to promote investment in IT, with a view
to improving the country’s efficiency and
competitiveness, a prerequisite to this being
a sector with more efficient, more competitive
enterprises,” explains Allard.
challenges
Mexico’s IT industry faces three main challenges:
the geographical diversification of exports,
the strengthening of its productive and
export base by incorporating more small and
medium companies, and greater emphasis on
specialized services, advanced manufacturing
and innovation and research.
As regards small and medium enterprises,
which are deemed crucial to addressing
the aforementioned challenges, these need
more subsidies and venture capital: they
need to be put in touch with investors and
trained in different areas.
And while industry executives and leaders
agree that Mexico is still far from ousting
India as the world’s leading IT manufacturer,
growth in recent years indicates the
country could well be on its way to becoming
a worthy runner up. n