Special Report Mexico at MIPCOM Negocios para exportadores. Mexico in the World Interview with Alejandra Lagunes Soto Ruiz. A universe in motion

Transcripción

1 Special Report Mexico at MIPCOM 2014 Mexico in the World Interview with Alejandra Lagunes Soto Ruiz Negocios para exportadores Information Technologies in Mexico A universe in motion III

2

3 From proméxico Mexican information technologies and creative industries currently feature among the highlights of the national economy. Mexican innovation is one of the highest-waving flags in the skies of the global economic landscape. Internally, the creative industries contribute around 7% of gross domestic product, while the information technology industry has grown from fourteen to twenty-one billion dollars from 2012 to Externally, Mexico is the leading exporter of creative goods in Latin America and the ninth largest IT talent center in the world. Our country is also recognized as the second best investment destination in Latin America for software projects, attracting 23% of total investment. In recent years, we have become the third largest exporter of IT services worldwide. Mexico produces 80% of Latin America s high-technology exports. This is all due to the optimal conditions the country provides so that IT industries flourish: 32 clusters, 30 technology parks, and close to 640 certified development centers. The intrinsic cross-cutting nature of these industries, as in the case of software, provides intelligent development that has positive repercussions on other sectors. Supporting creativity is essential for economic growth, especially so that SMBs can be successfully introduced into global value chains. The contents of this edition of Negocios ProMéxico give a panoramic view of both sectors through the testimonials of Mexican companies that have been able to internationalize thanks to the excellence of their services and products, and of foreign companies that have successfully established in our country, fully leveraging Mexico s competitive advantages. We also explore the efforts of the Federal Government to ensure both sectors develop optimally, by means of the Telecommunications Reform, the National Digital Strategy and Connected Mexico, and federal programs with the same objective, such as PROSOFT, MexicoIT, and MexicoFIRST. We particularly highlight Digital Creative City, a smart city that uses technology to positively transform the lives of residents; and the Internet of Things, a production field that, given its prominent transversality, we are sure will gain importance in the short term, and become a fundamental part of the technological developments that will breathe life into our country s future. Welcome to Negocios ProMéxico!

4 Table of Contents March 2015 Special Report Guest Opinion CCD Ventures Mexico at MIPCOM 2014 by mariana larragoiti Creative Economy Making Creativity the Primary Input by eduardo tanimoto licona Creative Economy Business Opportunity in Mexico by arturo delgado 12 cover feature Information Technologies in Mexico A universe in motion by mariana morán photo archive From ProMéxico 1 8 Briefs 38 figures Mexico s Partner México in the World 18 3D Robotics 32 Interview with Alejandra Lagunes Soto Ruiz Addcel BTF EDIS Interactive Challenges and Opportunities by manuel arroyo rodríguez China and Mexico by chantal abraján peña Flock Fortinet 55 Singapore and Mexico by alejandro salas montelongo

5 The Lifestyle The Complete Guide to the Mexican Way of Life photo courtesy of fox searchlight pictures Mexico in Hollywood 58 The Oscars and the Mexican Eye by jeremías andrópolus Our Silence Saying what you think and doing what you say by rivelino 59 photo courtesy of miramax The Wachowskis Film an Episode of the Series Sense8 in Mexico by luis archundia 60 photo courtesy of estudio rivelino photo courtesy of ficunam, unam 61 FICUNAM 2015 Internationalization Platform for Independent Mexican Filmmaking by luis archundia photo courtesy of tane 62 TANE Silver under a New Light

6 Para exportadores ProMéxico Francisco N. González Díaz CEO Karla Mawcinitt Bueno Communication and Image General Coordinator Felipe Gómez Antúnez Director of Publications and Content Jorge Arturo Morales Becerra Contreras Editorial coordination Advertising Cover Photo Archive foto cortesía notimex Entrevista a la Excelentísima Señora Sonja Hyland: Embajadora de Irlanda en México 68 Editorial Council consejo editorial Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal Francisco de Rosenzweig Mendialdua foto archivo foto cortesía notimex De ProMéxico 64 breves El comercio exterior Desde la perspectiva de un agente aduanal México y el mundo árabe 66 por abraham karol weller lara 74 por embajadora maría carmen oñate muñoz 78 foto cortesía de comce foto archivo foto archivo Nuevo sistema electrónico en materia mercantil La inaplazable entrada en vigor por josé pablo césar fernández 72 Distribuidora Hortimex Empresa ganadora del Premio Nacional de Exportación 2014 en la categoría Pequeñas y medianas comercializadoras por comce 76 INADEM Fortalecer el éxito de las industrias creativas y las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones mexicanas por enrique jacob rocha 79 Negocios ProMéxico es una publicación mensual editada por ProMéxico, Camino a Santa Teresa número 1679, colonia Jardines del Pedregal, delegación Álvaro Obregón, CP 01900, México, DF Teléfono: (52) Portal en Internet: correo electrónico: negocios@promexico.gob.mx. Editor responsable: Felipe Gómez Antúnez (Alta en trámite). Reserva de derechos al uso exclusivo No Licitud de título: 14459; licitud de contenido: 12032, ambos otorgados por la Comisión Calificadora de Publicaciones y Revistas Ilustradas de la Secretaría de Gobernación. ISSN: Negocios ProMéxico año 8, número III 2015, marzo 2015, se imprimió un tiraje de 7,000 ejemplares. Impresa por Cía. Impresora El Universal, S.A. de C.V. Las opiniones expresadas por los autores no reflejan necesariamente la postura del editor de la publicación. Queda estrictamente prohibida la reproducción total o parcial de los contenidos e imágenes de la publicación sin previa autorización de ProMéxico. Publicación gratuita. Está prohibida su venta y distribución comercial. ProMéxico is not responsible for inaccurate information or omissions that might exist in the information provided by the participant companies nor of their economic solvency. The institution might or might not agree with an author s statements; therefore the responsibility of each text falls on the writers, not on the institution, except when stated otherwise. Although this magazine verifies all the information printed on its pages, it will not accept responsibility derived from any omissions, inaccuracies or mistakes. March Download the PDF version and read the interactive edition of Negocios ProMéxico at negocios.promexico.gob.mx. Enrique Jacob Rocha Francisco N. González Díaz Embajador Alfonso de Maria y Campos Castelló Luis Miguel Pando Leyva Francisco Javier Méndez Aguiñaga Rodolfo Balmaceda Guillermo Wolf Jaime Zabludovsky Gabriela de la Riva Adolfo Laborde Carranco Silvia Núñez García María Cristina Rosas González Ulises Granados Quiroz Karla I. Mawcinitt Bueno This publication is not for sale. Its sale and commercial distribution are forbidden.

7 BRIEFS BRIEFS Automotive Automotive photo courtesy of orbis corp Orbis expands manufacturing to Mexico Orbis Corp. s newest manufacturing facility in Mexico is now up and running. The location in Silao measures 265,000 square feet and employs about 140 people, the Oconomowoc, Wis.-based company said. Orbis will manufacture plastic containers, pallets and the company s BulkPak container and ORBIShield dunnage product lines. The new facility features best-in-class design for efficient product flow, productivity and environmental sustainability, President Bill Ash said in a statement. Orbis, a subsidiary of Menasha Corp., previously said the new manufacturing capacity will help free up space for growth at U.S. operations. The company already had service centers for its reusable plastic packaging in Mexico, but this is the first manufacturing location in the country. ICT Is China Telecom Mulling an Investment in Mexico? China Telecom Corp. Ltd., the third-largest telecom carrier of China, is mulling over a possible investment opportunity in Mexico. The company is eyeing to invest in the upcoming state-owned mobile network project in Mexico which is valued at an astounding $10 billion. Although China Telecom refused a direct comment on the matter, it did state that management is looking for a suitable investment opportunity in Mexico. The government of Mexico has undertaken this massive mobile network project to instill competition in the highly monopolistic telecom industry. Last year, the Mexican government had reformed its telecommunications sector to curb the monopolistic power enjoyed by the incumbent America Movil SAB. agrifood Dunkin Donuts to Take Second Shot at Mexico Dunkin Donuts is returning to Mexico after a five-year absence, with plans to open more than 100 restaurants in central and western Mexico over the next few years. The Canton, Mass., company said Monday it signed a franchise agreement with the Mexican unit of Sizzling Platter LLC, a Dunkin Donuts franchisee in the U.S., to open restaurants in Mexico City; the central states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Querétaro and Morelos; and the western state of Jalisco. The company said it still is looking to recruit qualified candidates to develop the brand in other markets in Mexico. The restaurants will be vying with the likes of Starbucks, McDonald s McCafé, Krispy Kreme and the homegrown Café Punta del Cielo chain for part of a growing Mexican market for specialist coffee shops. photo courtesy of china telecom corp. photo courtesy of dunkin donuts photo courtesy of toyota motor corp Mexico Sets Auto Production Record, Aims for More Enjoying a strong tug from the growing U.S. economy, Mexico s automotive industry logged record production and exports last year and expects output to rise further in 2015, industry officials said Thursday. The auto makers produced more than 3.2 million vehicles, a nearly 10% increase over 2013, and exported 82% of them overwhelmingly to U.S. consumers said Eduardo Solis, executive president of the Mexican Automotive Industry Association. With both existing and new factories ramping up, Mr. Solis predicted that Mexico could manufacture as many as 3.5 million light vehicles this year. He calculates annual production will total 5 million vehicles by the end of the decade. automotive Toyota to end expansion freeze, eyes China, Mexico assembly plant Toyota Motor Corp is ending a three-year freeze on building new vehicle assembly plants and is looking to open two new assembly plants in China and another in Mexico, four executives familiar with the company s plans said. The Japanese automaker has already completed initial feasibility studies in both China and Mexico, according to those executives, and the teams are ready to execute, as one of them put it. The sources spoke over the last few weeks. Jim Lentz, head of Toyota s North American operations, said yesterday that after a three-year hold on new capacity investments, the standstill is over for Toyota. Lentz, who spoke on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show, would not comment on specific plans to add production capacity in Mexico or China. automotive Nissan set to produce new Frontier pickup in México Japanese automaker Nissan will begin producing the sixth generation of its Frontier pickup in Mexico, the company said on Tuesday. Nissan expects to make about 50,000 units of the 2016 NP300 Frontier in Mexico this year, spokesman Herman Morfin said. The new model is mostly for the domestic market, but some units will also be exported elsewhere in Latin America, he added. The pickup will be produced in Nissan s plant in the central state of Morelos, where the company has invested 1.1 billion pesos ($75.39 million) to manufacture the new vehicle. Nissan was the biggest producer of autos in Mexico in 2014, manufacturing 805,871 units, according to data from the Mexican Auto Industry Association. photo archive photo courtesy of nissan

8 BRIEFS BRIEFS Automotive ict photo courtesy of fca Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Mexico Inaugurates New Mopar Parts Distribution Centre in Toluca FCA Mexico has opened a new Mopar Parts Distribution Centre in Toluca, Mexico. This facility will store and distribute more than 65,000 service parts offered to FCA Mexico s customers and the Mopar Dealer Network in Mexico. The new Mopar Distribution Centre expands over 484,375 square-feet. The Distribution Centre will employ two shifts, creating 97 jobs. It is the result of a $13-million investment in infrastructure and equipment, and is another clear demonstration of the company s commitment with Mexico. photo courtesy of ibm infrastructure IBM Opens First Cloud Data Center in Mexico Big Blue seems to be on a roll with its cloud expansion. IBM has been rolling out new cloud data centers fairly regularly lately, and now it has launched its first such data center in Mexico. The new cloud data center opened in Queretaro, which is not too far from Mexico City, and is intended to help strengthen IBM s cloud presence in Latin America. The significance for IBM and its customers is in the providing of data resiliency within the region, as well as more redundancy in the Americas and the offering of the complete Soft- Layer offering. agrifood agrifood Grupo Bimbo acquires Saputo Bakery Vesta Joins the Mexican Stock Exchange Sustainability Index Heineken Optimistic for More Growth in Mexican Market Mexico s Grupo Bimbo said that its Canada Bread Company Limited unit completed the acquisition of the Saputo Bakery Inc. division of Canada s Saputo Inc. Saputo Bakery, a leading maker of snack cakes in Canada, will bolster Canada Bread s position in the country, Grupo Bimbo said. The Mexican baking giant is acquiring the Vachon, Jos Louis, Ah Caramel, Passion Flakie and May West brands, among others, from Montreal-based Saputo. Bimbo said on Dec. 18 that it was buying Saputo Bakery for C$120 million ($103.3 million based on the exchange rate at the time. Grupo Bimbo, the world s baking company, has 167 plants and about 1,600 stores in 22 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia. tourism photo courtesy of saputo bakery inc. Corporación Inmobiliaria Vesta has been added to the Mexican Stock Exchange Sustainability Index. Vesta was selected as one of the 30 most sustainable public companies in Mexico. Vesta seeks to minimize the environmental impact of its developments by offering its clients the most efficient solutions and establishing long term relationships with stakeholders. tourism American adds flights to Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America photo courtesy of vesta Favorable demographics and possible market-share gains are likely to bring more growth for Dutch brewer Heineken this year in the company s key Mexican market, the head of Heineken s operations here said. Heineken Mexico s chief executive Marc Busain said he s optimistic this year will be better for the brewer in Mexico than When Heineken Mexico does well, Heineken global does well, Mr. Busain said at a news conference. photo courtesy of hyatt hotels corporation Hyatt Place Tijuana opens in Mexico Hyatt Hotels Corporation today announced the opening of Hyatt Place Tijuana in Baja California, Mexico. Hyatt Place Tijuana is the fourth Hyatt Place hotel to open in Mexico, and continues Hyatt s growth strategy in the country. Whether we are catering to business or leisure travelers, we know that our guests will appreciate the comfortable and functional amenities offered at Hyatt Place, such as free Wi-Fi, made-to-order fresh food around the clock and a 24-hour fitness center. Hyatt Place Tijuana joins Hyatt Place Cuidad del Carmen, Hyatt Place La Paz and Hyatt Place Los Cabos, which is scheduled to reopen this year, post-hurricane Odile. photo courtesy of american airlines American Airlines announced it will add six new routes to Mexico and Latin America this summer. Among the new routes is a Saturday flight between Dallas/Fort Worth airport and the Grand Cayman Islands that will start on June 6. The Fort Worth-based carrier will also add a once a week route between DFW and Managua, Nicaragua. American said it will add daily flights between Los Angeles and Guadalajara and Miami and Barranquilla, Colombia. It will also start flights between Los Angeles and Belize City as well as flights between Miami and Monterrey, Mexico.

9 Negocios ProMéxico Cover Feature photos archive Cover Feature Negocios ProMéxico Information Technologies in Mexico A universe in motion Mexico has major strengths in the information technologies industry, clearly positioning it as an investment magnet in the global market. The IT sector in Mexico has performed well in the last decade. Indicator Market value (BUSD)/ 1 Exports (BUSD)/ 2 Economic units/ 3 Jobs/ 4 Certified development centers/ 5 National spending in IT (BUSD)/ , , , , , , Source: Cifras Select, 2014 estimated (average exchange rate 2014: pesos [SAT, 2014]) 2. AT Kearney Source: DENUE, INEGI 4. Source: INEGI for IT figures (not including BPO): census of outsourcing agencies, IMT, Refers to SEI (CMMI) certifications, data up to December 2014, CERVERT and NYCE (MOPROSOFT) 6. Source: IDC by mariana morán* Companies Established in Mexico Among Mexico s main advantages are its geographical location the wide border it shares with the United States and the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines and preferential access to a number of foreign markets through its trade agreements. Mexico has twelve free trade agreements and privileged access to 45 countries (which together cover a market of 1.2 billion people), and a legal framework homologized with its principal trade partners. A.T. Kearney ranks Mexico as the leader in information technologies (IT) and business processing and the country is considered the fourth best destination worldwide for the localization of global services including IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing (BPO). In addition, Mexico ranks second in Latin America as an investment destination attracting 23% of total investment in software projects and establishing itself as the best destination in the Americas to establish IT companies. According to reports from the Ministry of Economy (SE, in Spanish), Mexico has become the third largest exporter of IT services in the world. The export of IT and BPO services has grown 12.25% increasing in value to 5.56 billion dollars. KPMG says Mexico is a highly costcompetitive country for software design and video game development as well as support services and shared service centers, representing savings of 28.7% and 46% respectively, compared to the United States. 1 The IT industry in Mexico consists of a sizeable universe of SMBs that engage primarily in the production of services. A high proportion of software production is in-house with big companies from other sectors developing or adapting the software and IT services they require internally. Mexico s IT sector has made important strides in the last decade. The table below shows how market value has grown at an annual average rate of 14% in ten years, while exports and employment have increased by 12% and 11%, respectively, in the same period. 1 Competitive Alternatives KPMG s Guide to International Business Location Costs 2014 Edition. Digital Services: software development firm and a video game production studio. Corporate Services: a shared services center and an international financial services firm. 12 March 2015 March

10 Negocios ProMéxico Cover Feature photos archive Cover Feature Negocios ProMéxico Government Initiatives The information and communications technologies sector in Mexico plays a key role in the government s development strategy because of its growth potential and the favorable effect it has on other sectors and on the competitiveness of the economy in general. In response to this, constitutional reforms were made in telecommunications and competition to improve those markets with structural problems. The initiative is based on the recognition of the right to free access to information and the right to freedom of broadcasting, and the right of access to information technology and broadcasting and telecommunications services, including broadband. Telecommunications Reform Mexico faces several challenges in telecommunications, among them the big industry monopolies, high prices and tariffs, connectivity, and bandwidth. This landscape is expected to change over the next few years driven by the telecommunications reform that allows more competitiveness in the sector. Thus, the constitutional reforms on telecommunications and competition seek to further encourage industry to improve markets suffering from structural problems. The constitutional reform to telecommunications, broadcasting, and economic competition is governed by six main principles: 1. Strengthening of fundamental rights. The reform expands freedom of expression and access to information, and the rights of users to telecommunication and broadcasting services. Following the reform, telecommunications are public services of general interest, so that the State will ensure that they are provided under conditions of competitiveness, quality, plurality, universal coverage, interconnection, convergence, free access, and continuity. 2. Updating of the legal framework in the telecommunications sector. To strengthen legal certainty, a single system will be issued that regulates concurrently the spectrum, networks and services through a single concession regime. Asymmetric regulation will also be implemented and applied to the predominant economic agents, prior declaration of the regulatory body. 3. Strengthening of the institutional framework. The Federal Telecommunications Institute and the Federal Commission of Economic Competition are created as autonomous constitutional bodies. In addition, to ensure the rights of the economic actors, courts are created to deal specifically with matters regarding telecommunications, broadcasting, and economic competition. 4. Promotion of competition. Foreign direct investment will be allowed up to 100% in telecommunications and satellite communications. In addition, up to 49% is authorized in broadcasting, providing there is reciprocity in the investor s home country. Broadcasters are obligated to allow the free and nondiscriminatory retransmission of their signals to subscription television companies. In turn, broadcasters will have the right for their signals to be transmitted at no cost and non-discriminately by subscription television companies. 5. Establishment of a universal digital inclusion policy and a national digital agenda. The federal executive will be responsible for this policy, which will encompass infrastructure, accessibility, connectivity, information and communication technologies, and digital abilities. The aim is for at least 70% of homes and 85% of micro, small and medium-sized companies to have the speed to download information over the Internet, in conformity with international standards. 6. Push for greater infrastructure coverage. To this end, a national, broadband, fiber optic core network will be deployed and a wholesale shared access, wireless network in the 700 MHz radio spectrum band. National Digital Strategy The National Development Plan determines the establishment of a national digital strategy as a cross-sector strategy that encourages the adoption of information and communication technologies and drives an effective government that inserts Mexico in the information and knowledge society, in turn, enabling the development of strategic sectors in the country through the implementation of an economic promotion policy. The National Digital Strategy, therefore, embodies the action plan that the Mexican government will implement over the next few years with five objectives related to the national goals proposed in the NDP: governmental transformation, universal and effective health care, quality education, digital economy, and public safety. The fundamental purpose of the strategy is to achieve a digital Mexico in which the adoption and use of technologies maximizes its economic and social impact to enhance the quality of life for all. México conectado México conectado (Mexico Connected) is a Mexican government project that helps to ensure the constitutional right of access to bandwidth Internet service (sixth constitutional article). To achieve that objective, México conectado promotes the deployment of telecommunications networks that provide connectivity in public places such as schools, health centers, libraries, community centers, and parks, at federal, state and municipal level. México conectado will take bandwidth Internet to public places all over the country. To achieve this, each state follows a five-stage process: installation of the state coordination committee, planning, call for tender, implementation, and operation. Federal Programs and Flagship Projects Prosoft The Prosoft public policy, created by the SE in 2002, promotes the conditions for our country to have an internationally competitive IT services sector and ensure its long-term growth. The Prosoft fund was created as a public policy-enabling tool whose purpose is to support investment and the development of IT projects in conjunction with state and private industry funds. Prosoft has generated an economic spillover of more than sixteen billion pesos by supporting more than three thousand projects. TechBA The program, created and driven by the SE and the Mexico-United States Science Foundation as a business incubator, offers a variety of support programs (financial, consultancy, and operational) to Mexican companies. The aim is to boost their growth and ready them for exporting. MexicoIT This program was created by the CANI- ETI and backed by the ME through Prosoft. The Mexico IT: Always Near your Business campaign was launched in May 2006 in conjunction with the IT industry to strengthen Mexico s image as a global IT services provider. In its first stage, the campaign covers the North American market. In order to reinforce the message, the website com was launched along with a contact center to follow up on business opportunities in the United States originating from presence in events and specialized media. MexicoFIRST The main objective of this initiative backed by the ME and the World Bank is the generation of human capital to strengthen the workforce, both in number and quality, to further the development and competitiveness of Mexican companies and attract foreign investment from those seeking Mexico as a 14 March 2015 March

11 Negocios ProMéxico Cover Feature photos archive Cover Feature Negocios ProMéxico world-class player. MexicoFIRST aims to achieve sixty thousand certifications in the first five years; by 2012 (its fourth year) it had already obtained an annual average of around eighteen thousand certifications, 50% more than initially foreseen. Eighty percent of those who take the courses to obtain a certification are successful. The New Vision of the IT Sector As a result of the transverse impact of the IT sector, in 2002 the federal government implemented a public policy that leverages the enormous opportunities in the sector, both in the international and domestic markets, to take Mexico towards a knowledge-based economy. The Prosoft public policy has helped to strengthen the pillars of quality and human capital development in order to potentiate the sector. During 2014, the Sectoral Agenda for the Development of Information Technologies in Mexico known as Prosoft 3.0 was launched to trigger the digital ICT market as a transversal sector and position Mexico as a global player in IT services, with initiatives and actions that are a high priority on the national agenda. Mexico s IT sector has immense opportunities to grow, impact the internal market, and position as a global IT services provider. Prosoft 3.0 describes how we see the IT sector in Mexico in the next ten years, what we seek to achieve with the initiative and how we want to measure it. Vision 2024 Become a global player in exports Become an outsourcing destination Have a larger scale of companies and sales Expand the density of IT use Have certified development centers with the highest quality Facilitate close ties with other sectors Have talent of excellence readily accessible Facilitate innovation with and in IT Higher added value in the sector Maintain tight links with academia Have Access to entrepreneurial capital and funding Have differentiated specialization Maintain a tight collaboration in the ecosystem Have a regulatory framework that is at the avant-garde Goals 2024 Second exporter country (initially the third). Third IT outsourcing destination (initially the sixth). In 2014 we were already the fourth. Fourfold increase in the IT market value (initially at 14.4 billion USD). In 2014 the value was 20.7 billion. Third in LATAM in terms of business IT use (initially the fifth). One thousand quality centers (initially 527). In 2014 there were 639. Approach fifteen sectors. 90% of talent demand covered (initially 50%). 50% of IT companies innovate (initially 9.4%). 25% of added value in services (today it is 9.4%). 30% in linked projects (initially 5%). 50% of companies get credits (initially 23%). Five IT global poles in the country (initially we had no global poles). Annual strategic planning. Leader in LATAM in IT-related laws (initially the fifth). ProMéxico, in line with the Development Plan, the National Digital Agenda, and PROSOFT 3.0, has defined its strategy as positioning Mexico as the second biggest exporter of high value-added ICT services through a developed base of local suppliers and converting the country into the third major ICT outsourcing destination and assisting in the development of regional poles of competitiveness. Internet of Things Digital technologies are among the most important drivers of the economy in a globalized world; they are the main driver of productivity and growth, they transform the world. Today, twenty-five billion objects are connected to the Internet, a figure that will rise to an estimated fifty billion by The Internet of Things (IoT) is presented as one of the sectors with highest potential and strategic value, both for Mexico and the rest of Latin America. The IoT is an innovative concept based on automatic communication with human intervention, via the Web, between physical objects and, eventually, abstract entities. In device-to-device communication, the IoT concept contemplates objects, protocols, programming, digital applications, chip design, and technology with vast capabilities; it opens a universe of new possibilities for the development of an industry with significant benefits for the economy, as well as an entire package for the attraction of young talent, entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses and liaison with digital ecosystems. The Internet of Things is the first real Internet evolution; it is the technology leap that creates revolutionary applications with the potential to exponentially enhance the way people live, learn, work, and have fun; it emerges when there are more objects than people connected to the Internet and there is real communication between smart objects connected to the Internet through a mobile device. It also enables the collection of data and information to convert into knowledge. For Mexico, new technologies are an opportunity for economic expansion in non-traditional sectors, due to their high international performance based primarily on talent and the development of digital high technology. The use of IoT applications has countless benefits. The cross-cutting nature of the sector opens many opportunities for development in the country, especially in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, medical, agricultural, and energy. The sector also influences the development of smart cities that will improve quality of life and economic growth with the use of technologies related to these applications. The infrastructure will push Mexico to the leading edge of digital innovation, with connected communities and smart solutions in these sectors which, by 2020, will benefit almost half of the world economy with fifty billion objects connected, contributing to a sustainable energy future. In order to develop an Internet of Things national strategy, ProMéxico, the ME, the World Bank, and CANIETI, together with experts from the triple helix, used a road map approach to develop the strategic milestones and projects that will detonate the industry. Strategic milestones that have been defined to position Mexico: 1. Being the benchmark for IoT applications in Latin America, in design, advanced manufacturing, product development, with a focus on generating new business. 2. Being one of the five leading countries in digital solutions and Big Data management in Some projects that include the steps and activities to follow: Develop new specialized technology applications that enable new business. Create technology laboratories to conduct pre-sale product testing. Obtain economic resources for the development of new projects that promote business focused on new technologies. Create a technology platform that enables the exchange of knowledge and new business. With such high growth potential, there is a clear opportunity for Mexican talent to develop IoT applications and solutions. N * ICT specialist, ProMéxico 16 March 2015 March

12 Negocios ProMéxico Mexico s Partner photos courtesy of argelia bravo, 3d robotics Mexico s Partner Negocios ProMéxico 3D Robotics Mexican Innovation in the Skies of the World The technology developed some years ago by 3D Robotics is known all over the world and is the basis on which hundreds of engineers are now working in several countries. interview with jordi muñoz*, by negocios proméxico* 3D Robotics began operations in Jordi had had plans and ideas for some time, but nothing concrete. It all began as a game trying to stabilize a home-made helicopter and around two years later he was able to successfully complete its development. At that time, he published all his progress on the Internet, manufacturing the helicopters in his garage and selling them online. Growth was rapid, and in a few years what is now 3D Robotics emerged. What we officially do in the company today is develop new technologies that will be used later on in drones or other products, Jordi tells us. 3D Robotics develops absolutely everything to do with drones, from the most basic to the most advanced software and hardware; it does not use any technology from other companies. At first, I recycled parts of a Wii console to make my prototype because I couldn t buy parts directly from the manufacturers or produce them myself, but today we develop everything in-house. The brain of the drones is the most important contribution 3D Robotics has made. It s a piece of hardware that you put in any plane that makes it able to fly itself. It is practically (perhaps by happy accident) the most used system; 95% of the drones in the world use our automatic pilot. It was originally developed by a Mexican, Jordi Muñoz, although today it has matured and is supercomplex; there are more than two hundred engineers working on its development. It is known as Autopilot. Everything I did has now been replaced, but the one who started the first version and put it out there was me, and today it s still the most popular in the world because it s open code, says Jordi. The idea came at a time when technology was more affordable thanks to the Wii; the sensors the drones use were cheaper to make. When I started to play around with them I realized that they would stabilize a helicopter, then when I put them to the test and it didn t work I continued to investigate and realized it needed more sensors. Finally, I was able to stabilize my helicopter and realized that with this hardware I could not only stabilize it but also fly it. It just needed a software change. That s how the idea started: by experimenting. Describing the process in which the hardware possibilities require software that, in turn, allows its capabilities to be fully exploited, Jordi explains, What happens is a bit like the Tesla car: it has an automatic pilot, you can do anything it brakes for you, turns for you, and takes you home without you having to drive but now it doesn t work. You buy it today and the hardware can do it, but it s not enabled. The latest news is that in two or three months they will send the software by air, it will be updated and then you ll be able to use all the automatic pilot functions. Something like that happened to me, I started out just stabilizing and later, with a software update, I could fly and do more things with it. What 3D Robotics does might be related to aeronautics, but it represents a completely new market. What we do is the area of aeronautics that contributes to all the others; it s simpler, safer, and much less complex. It fits into every category you can imagine, from fishing and agriculture, to security and mere hobby; it s something that lawyers and real-estate agents, among others, can implement. It moves away from aeronautics and connects with everything else; it s an eye in the sky without the complexity of aeronautics. 3D Robotics benefits from the mobile telephone industry. The sensors used in smartphones are the same as those used in a drone. The huge growth of the smartphone market has meant lower prices and simultaneously improved the sensors, which have become more compact and cheaper. We catch the developments and adapt them. Technology tends to become increasingly more simple, cheap, and intuitive. It is also safer. It is becoming smarter all the time allowing it to be much safer. 3D Robotics has presence practically all over the world. Its main clients are in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa. In Latin America, the main buyers are Brazil and Chile. 3D Robotics is now a large corporation that runs by itself, with engineers from different countries and widely experienced people. It is a highly professional structure with a dazzling and promising future. N * Founder of 3D Robotics 18 March 2015 March

13 Negocios ProMéxico Mexico s Partner photos courtesy of addcel Mexico s Partner Negocios ProMéxico Addcel A Company 100% Focused on Mobile Applications Addcel is a brand of payment acceptance which uses a mobile switch to initiate mobile transactions. Established in 2009 with 100% Mexican capital, its first step was to develop the platform (a transaction switch); the second step and probably the most important was to get certified. interview with ramón fuentes*, by negocios proméxico Addcel started with bank certificates adhering to the rules of Visa and Mastercard and generated a worldwide certification with American Express as their processor and aggregator. This certification enables them to perform transactions anywhere in the world; the company also has payment card industry (PCI) certification. This certification is held by banks, large surface stores, and practically all companies and institutions that issue plastic or use it to perform transactions. The certification has various points and levels; Addcel has the highest certification in two very important processes; the programming of the platform everything that flows into the platform is certified and for the safekeeping of all the sensitive data from credit and debit cards, thanks to which banking institutions and banks allow them to protect personal information. Addcel is a technologybased payment media company; its market is payment media. Addcel developed a smartphone transaction switch that generates more information, both about the user and the affiliate contracting its services. The switch makes two types of transactions in two stages: the first is nonbanking, it consults and affects reservations and tariff systems and all related information; the second consists of generating a bank reference that says that the user is making a purchase for a certain amount. These transactions (non-banking and banking) not only generate purchases, but also information about how users move around. A bus line, for example, might provide information on where users travel to and from, when and how often. Furthermore, when users make a purchase it is recorded, generating a user history and profile that serves and grows with each new or repeated purchase. This is innovative, it is practically non-existent in Latin America, and although we might have competition, the fact is that Addcel has a two- or threeyear technological advantage, says Ramón. Up to 2014, Addcel s operations covered four countries, Mexico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. In each one, Addcel has approached the Mexican embassy and ProMéxico. In early 2015, it began operations in Ecuador, and plans to expand into Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru thanks to a strategic development partnership with a major line in the region. The company recently signed an agreement with a very strong United States company; We hadn t thought about going into the United States (just Latin America, mainly because of the similar banking regulations), but the opportunity came up at the end of last year with Truconnect (through which we operate in the 7-Eleven chain), and after evaluating it we realized it was a great opportunity, the company s CEO explains. Addcel s aim is to have presence in the eight American countries mentioned above by the end of This will only be achievable through the business model known as franchisee partner, a fundamental part of the business strategy that allows them to operate more quickly. Furthermore, says Ramón Fuentes, operating from Mexico has many advantages, first, because the volume of electronic transactions is very high although the issuance of plastic does not reflect that but it is growing fast, above all regarding debit. With the technology that Add- cel uses it is possible to pay for virtually all domestic services with a smartphone. Addcel is also initiating a highly interesting project that will allow in-store payment with very simple technology and without the need for plastic; similarly, they succeeded in becoming processors of federal and local tax payments through a bank, giving more weight to their introduction in Central and South America. In Colombia, Addcel works closely with Bancolombia (the most important bank in Colombia), Redeban (the biggest payment processor in Colombia), and DIAN (the tax administration office, similar to Mexico s SAT). They were able to achieve this through the Latin American Government Treasury Forum (FOTEGAL) an association that brings together the Finance Ministries of different countries thanks to having worked in Mexico with federal (SAT) and local (GDF) tax authorities. Representatives of our country joined the Addcel project to collect through mobile payments. Application Types Addcel s applications work on any mobile device smartphones, tablets and even ipod with Internet access: the user downloads the application and fills out a record, generating an electronic signature and from there makes payments. It works like itunes: you register with us, the registration generates an electronic signature and every time you invoke the electronic signature with any mobile device through an application associated with ours (like ETN, a long-distance bus company in Mexico, SAT or GDF) you call up the data from your card held in the cloud your card data with your electronic signature. We validate and process the charge and the payment. We are not aggregators, we do not disperse the money; that is done through the banks that are affiliated to us. We are like Prosa, of which we are partners, but with mobile phones; Prosa is a company owned by the banks and what it does is offset money between an issuing bank and a receiving bank. Prosa and Addcel complement each other, Ramón de la Fuente explains. Addcel has two types of applications. One is Mobilecard that enables the holder to pay for recharges and services (air time, electronic toll tag, electricity bill, and cable television, among others) with which it operates as a payment processor on its own platform. It also does work for third parties: it develops an own brand application for the contracting company (ETC or ADO another bus line or the Mexico City Treasury, among others), so that a variety of services can be paid by means of an electronic signature. Addcel has worked for four years with I+D, for whom it developed TuTag an application for smart electronic toll recharges in which you activate a bank card and can make recharges online. N *CEO, Addcel 20 March 2015 March

14 Negocios ProMéxico Mexico s Partner photos courtesy of btf Mexico s Partner Negocios ProMéxico BTF Television Production Professionals BTF began in 2010 as a producer of audiovisual content with a disruptive vision, formed by a multidisciplinary and multifocal group, led by diverse talents and specialists in communications and the arts. interview with francisco cordero*, by proméxico* There are fewer than ten companies in Mexico that are fully dedicated only to television production, and BTF is one of them. There are many producers, but meeting the requirements of a television station demands a degree of professionalism that BTF has developed over several years. BTF is known for offering production services, and has even supported international producers that come to Mexico; however, its flagship product is content generation and production services for television. So far, the entirety of its exports have gone to the United States, although opening the spectrum to Latin America is a goal for BTF; it has already generated a couple of partnerships with producers with whom they mutually represent. Until now, their presence in the United States has been accidental, arising from its first meeting with Buena Vista International, at MIPCOM We met for a public relations event and from there started to explore potential partnerships, Francisco tells us. MIPCOM BTF was among the Mexican companies that attended MIP- COM 2014 with ProMéxico. The company sought out different promotion channels for its services, which, according to Francisco, go from building an idea to the delivery of the finished content. They have a contract with Buena Vista International (BVI). Due to the nature of our contract with BVI, they give us a distribution platform and have us develop some projects for them. Our work with them consists of content development as well as production and representation. All our clients have to be seen in collaboration with them. At MIPCOM, what we arranged with them was an agreement to produce four series over three years, aimed at the open television audience in Mexico and the Latino audience in the United States, among others. We already have the first two in the production pipeline; production of the first begins in May. At MIPCOM they also established contact with people from Europe, the core market at MIPCOM although other regions are also represented. We try to create ties with people from Europe to have representation and partnership agreements with European producers for services in Mexico. We made a lot of contacts with European channels and partnerships with some Spanish producers, and we are beginning to capitalize on those contracts. In the four years I have been going to MIPCOM, I have noticed that there is a process to follow: the first year you make contact and from the second year you start to close tangible deals. MIPCOM 2014 put Mexico firmly in the spotlight as a country and as an option for the production of audiovisual media in general. It was an important call because the creative industry in Mexico is increasingly gaining strength; it is a medium- and long-term gamble, given that it is difficult to capitalize on the sale of services in a single exhibition. To attend the festival, BTF received the support of the travel kit, and later an invitation to visit London for the Dual Year. This year, they will also go to MIPTV in April. We want to explore other markets and we believe that ProMéxico can help us. Mexico and the World The audiovisual medium is booming. It is still young, but now is a moment that must be seized, explains Francisco, and one of the virtues of Mexicans is their creativity. Being a Mexican company in Mexico has its advantages, and that is precisely why there should be more promotion of the advantages of coming to Mexico. I saw that at MIPCOM there were some Mexican states promoting themselves as filming locations. That brings many sources of employment. International companies that come to film here bring their own expertise, and we can feed off that. Canada, for example, has We try to create ties with people from Europe to have representation and partnership agreements with European producers for services in Mexico. a very aggressive film incentive and support policy, so producers turn to them. Another case is New Zealand, which took a lot of films and with that helped to generate a solid industry. In Latin America, Colombia also has very aggressive incentives for foreign productions; they reimburse up to 60% in cash of the money you produce. One of the requirements is that you hire a local producer and the reimbursement is on what you pay to that company. In Mexico, we have creative professionals, all kinds of locations, accesses, and a great diversity of ecosystems; we are a country with a lot to offer. This year, BTF seeks to meet the quality that BVI demands in its productions and successfully complete all its projects with them. The overall commitment it has with BVI is for twenty years and the intention is to further strengthen its involvement with them. Our objective is to become a strategic partner of Buena Vista International, Francisco concludes. N * Founder of BTF Media 22 March 2015 March

15 Negocios ProMéxico Mexico s Partner photos courtesy of edis Mexico s Partner Negocios ProMéxico EDIS Interactive Bringing the Non- Existent into Reality Since the end of 2009, before EDIS Interactive came into being, Ariel Molina began to explore interactive and multi-touch surfaces from a very simple pretext: to detect an object by the shadow it makes and light distortions caused on a material such as glass or acrylic. He then patented the idea for a Smart lighting system with object detection. interview with ariel molina* by negocios proméxico The year 2011 was pivotal for EDIS Interactive. The enormous flexibility of having proprietary technology has allowed EDIS to move in such disparate areas as entertainment, academia, and museums. Now, EDIS Interactive constantly researches and produces interactive systems with the aim of bringing into reality things that (as yet) do not exist focusing on giant, irregular shaped interactive surfaces or with unusual interactivity, such as systems to detect orchestra beats or simulate hurricanes, and interactive bars and digital water cascades. His most impressive project in terms of innovation has been the biggest mega touchscreen in Latin America that he made in 2012 with own technology for the Ibero American University of Puebla. The colossal touchscreen is 8 meters long and 2 meters high and is surpassed only by one installed in Groninga University in the Netherlands (ten meters). This mega screen was the start of several federal projects sponsored in part by CONACYT, with which technology gains increasing momentum and stronger ties are created with academia. Later federallybacked projects have used the mega screen as a basis for implementing systems focused on geo-information, enforcement coordination, data mining, and geophysical analysis on giant multi-touch screens. The core system used by EDIS Interactive is an interactive module that adjusts to each project, such as a touch roundtable (like in the MUVI museum in Campeche), an interactive bar, or even several together like the mega screen in the IBERO in Puebla. Touchscreen applications, like tablets and mobile phones, are well defined; although it seems that the world saw them for the first time in 2007 with Steve Jobs iconic presentation, ideas for touch tablets had been around for decades. The key was to have the right human-computer interaction. In contrast, giant screens have not had this revolution because there are not many of them around to experiment with. Imagine what would happen if you had an eight-meter touch-map in a control room, where you have live information on patrol cars, fire trucks, ambulances, surveillance cameras, geo-tagged tweet analysis, and traffic light control. You could detect problems, orchestrate public safety and follow live pursuits, reports, and public complaints. This saves lives, improves how societies function, and generates vital information for converting any city into a true smart city. There is enormous potential for analyzing information buried in large databases, it just has to be released. EDIS has a project to convert mega screens into live video conference systems in university corridors. It has the capacity to unite and collaborate. I can assure you these things are real and can be made in Mexico by Mexicans and with Mexican technology. Until now, EDIS has focused largely on the domestic market and believes museums and entertainment to be entire worlds. But it also exports custom software to United States companies. Along the way, we have become experts in human-computer interaction, in user interfaces and unusual and interesting interface adaptations. AT EDIS Interactive we develop special systems that run on what are known as embedded devices. This resulted in our efforts to miniaturize and use only the necessary resources. Little by little the public is getting to know these devices, through the Internet of Things (IoT), and this is the kind of thing we are working on inside and outside the country, Ariel commented. Fashion experts go to Milan, New York, or Paris and football fans to Brazil. Technology has its mecca in Silicon Valley. While fairs are always held in Las Vegas, the reality is that the technology culture and push of the San Francisco area continues over other places, and that is where the melting pot of ideas really is. For example, we are working with a company that creates technology solutions in embedded systems; it was a perfect match because at EDIS Interactive we do it for necessity, which has made us experts. I remember the CEO of the company s first words, I like you Ariel, but listen, there are lots of people who say they do [quality UI development], but they really don t. After I showed him what we do we signed a threeyear contract, says Ariel. EDIS Interactive is in the Endeavor process. The mentoring has taken us much further in the process of accessing new markets, however, the Mexican market is still young and there is much to be done here. The challenge lies in knowing how to find opportunities and take advantage of them, never sleeping because the world is advancing at an impressive rate. EDIS Interactive is in the CONACYT Registry of Scientific and Technology Institutions, that is, it has shown that it develops science and technology. That has given it access to programs like the Incentives for Innovation Program, into which it has had 24 March 2015 March

16 Negocios ProMéxico Mexico s Partner Mexico s Partner Negocios ProMéxico several projects accepted, one of them a mega touchscreen. We have formal agreements with various public and private universities and CONACYT centers, including IBERO, UD- LAP, CICESE, and a number of state universities. EDIS is in a process of expansion and is looking to replicate its success in the Ibero Puebla in other universities, expanding its laboratories and attracting many more national and foreign projects. With everything, the goal is to stay focused on its specialty was a crazy year, we doubled our human team, bought a lot of new toys, and grew our turnover. We started 2015 with international contracts. We have the impression that it s all just beginning. Ariel thinks that technology development in Mexico is still relatively small, considering its potential. The influence of the film The Social Network generated a lot of dreamers, and that s good but there are a lot of opportunities that are being missed, for example, what about an application that sells a mini microphone and uses simple algorithms to have a useful ultrasound for doctors in rural areas, or an embedded device that measures air pollution, or another that interprets a dog s bark, a child s cry, or sign language? All this can be done today, but the focus is on social networks and sales mechanisms. It s about taking the fear out of starting out, the IT industry is full of opportunities. In Silicon Valley there are many startups that begin precisely with the idea of building something and selling it to Google or Apple. They earn much more that way than working directly for them; if you make an impressive tool and it really works, you can sell it to Google or IBM, or make your own business. We are working on embedding our systems, that is, converting our systems that used to use enormous server racks into small boxes that you just connect and use. We have everything almost ready and we are selling a lot of that. This year we will stop buying servers; EDIS Interactive is gradually becoming an embedded hardware company. The work we are looking to do abroad is on the same track. The advantage of working with these systems is that they are extremely easy to use for the end client, they just connect them and they re done. They are also very easy to distribute because they are about the size of a mobile phone, they are easy to maintain and much more profitable, too. In recent years, Ariel visited Germany, the United States, and Holland where he gave conferences about the mega screen and made his first contacts for exporting software. At that time we had no contact with ProMéxico, but this year we will have their support in Oslo and Berlin; we hope to visit more places and sign more contracts. EDIS is looking to open offices in Silicon Valley to attract work to Mexico; its biggest challenge is internal planning and expanding the Mexican market to be able to sustain the plan. Our five-year goal is to triple the size of our operations and expand our academic collaboration, since that is the source of our new talent. We need to learn quickly from our friends in Silicon Valley about the quality of software that is required abroad, open our own sales offices there, and further expand our brand recognition nationally. According to his story, the first three years of EDIS Interactive have served to bring it into being, to show our pedigree and put us on the map. The next five years will be to get firmly established and become a national reference for interactive systems, interactivity for museums and entertainment, and start to have sustained presence on the international scene. N Flock Ideas that Hack Realities You have to really know a reality to be able to transform it. The point is not to compromise the security of a system, but to gain deep insight into people s reality to positively transform it; hacking it means grasping it to make it better for those who experience it. interview with sebastián tonda*, by negocios proméxico Flock is a marketing and advertising agency formed in 2009 whose aim is to generate ideas that hack realities to benefit people, through two main capacities: creativity and performance. With creativity, we think in ideas, not formats. Ideas that must respond to people s needs. Understanding a reality is accessing it. It is impossible to think that you can hack a reality if you don t understand it. Once we have an idea, we are able to escalate it to its full potential from a mobile application to a television commercial to achieve the goal. In regard to performance, we also focus on people and improve the results of our clients business/action, continually monitoring the variables that determine that a person goes from knowing to changing. With this capacity we ensure that an idea that is attractive to people is transformed into the action the client is looking for, the company s CEO explains. Flock has positioned as one of the most innovative agencies in Mexico; its work has shown the global industry how this is possible from Mexico. It has generated ideas and managed their implementation in twenty-six countries, mainly in Latin America, and has also developed a strategy to access new markets. Our focus is not on what we can do for Mexico but on what we can contribute to the world from Mexico. Our intention is to export ideas. We realized when we opened an office in Chile that although the business was promising, the philosophy did not go deep enough, and so we changed the strategy. We sold our Chile operation to local partners and embarked on a much less traditional expansion strategy aimed primarily at hacking realities outside our country, and thus open businesses in other markets. At this time we have one person in Los Angeles implementing the first stage of the new strategy. When asked about the advantages of working from Mexico compared to other countries, Sebastián Tonda replies that first, the cost-quality production ratio in Mexico is very competitive; furthermore, innovation he tells us is photos courtesy of edis * CEO, Edis photo courtesy of flock 26 March 2015 March

17 Negocios ProMéxico Mexico s Partner photos courtesy of flock Mexico s Partner Negocios ProMéxico inherent in our culture because there are many people who use some kind of innovation every day to survive. In Mexico, we are the kings of the minimum viable product; we are constantly seeking new opportunities. This inherent capacity of the Mexican culture can be rerouted to generate disruptive innovation, more to transcend than to survive. The possibility of generating prototypes and proving an idea is much easier in Mexico than in more developed countries. Our country s capacity for technology development is evidenced in the leadership we have to produce complex technologies (airplanes, electronic components or cars, among others). To manufacture complex technology products, you need skilled labor, and in Mexico we have it; we graduate more engineers per capita than Canada and the United States. Sebastián comments that IT development is not a trend that should be analyzed by country; What is interesting is not what Mexico is developing but how those developments are applied so that Mexico contributes innovation to the world; innovation does not come from technology development itself but from its application to practical problems and as it intersects with other available technologies. Flock knows that the growth of information technologies is exponential and that in the next twenty years we will see more technological advances than we have seen in the last century. This means that virtually everything will be transformed. For this reason Flock stays abreast of advances in robotics, neuroscience, biotechnology, nanotechnology, digital manufacturing, virtual reality, alternative energies, and artificial intelligence so that it knows which could be more influential and which it will use in the short, medium, and long term. Hacking Realities The most modern companies and those which grow exponentially worldwide define themselves less by mission/vision and more by purpose. The main difference is that a purpose speaks to what it plans to contribute to the world, and for that purpose to work it must be massive and transformative. Flock works with a purpose: to hack realities. It is a marketing company with a creative profile conceived as an agency specialized in digital media and technology integration. Ideas that hack realities is what we try to do every day; before the idea the reality was A, after the idea the reality is B, Sebastián explains. But what does hacking a reality mean for Flock? It means really knowing a reality to be able to transform it. The point is not to compromise the security of a system, but to gain deep insight into people s reality so you can make it better for those who live it. If the process were not centered on a benefit for people it would make no sense. Flock analyzes conditions in large groups of people who experience a same condition, and seeks to change it for the better. The purpose of hacking realities extends to almost any industry. A law firm might have a similar purpose to ours, and might use the entire capacity of the law to achieve a determined transformation. The structure and means to achieve it are defined by the purpose and the industry in question; to hack a reality from the advertising and marketing industry, you need people with strategic capacity to deeply understand a reality (planning) and give insight into where the levers are that can be moved to transform a reality. You also need a creative team, so that once you determine the angle from where you can transform the reality, the team finds the ideas that make it happen. Flock decides the reality it wants to hack and asks itself what is in the people s best interest, because there are many angles from which a reality can be changed and those require actions. Let s say, for example, that the proposal is to hack lateness. To achieve that, you have to define the angle you want to operate from, and from there think what you want people to do. Do we want those who are late to stop being late, or do we want those who are waiting to stop waiting, or do we want being late to be more culturally relevant so that people are more concerned about it? There are many possible angles. As Sebastián explains it, it works like a staircase that has to be climbed step by step to achieve the transformation sought. Flock needs to find a reality that can be hacked (strategic planning), then define what it wants people to do about that reality to narrow the angle from which it plans to hack. A creative team then finds an idea that achieves it, and how that can be turned into an action and a story to tell, because it has to be something that people share so that it escalates as an idea and contaminates a lot of people. Then you need a production team that makes it all happen (a mobile video, mobile app, or activities that happen in physical places); all these points of contact where the idea is planted require a great performance capacity and you have to be able to carry it out and supervise. Finally, a technology and performance team helps to increase the diffusion capacity and impact through technological tools, spreading the virus that the rest of the team created to do the hacking. Flock has a structure that consists of business, planning, creative, production, and diffusion platforms. Outstanding Projects Sebastián describes how what Flock calls hacking has worked: A good example of a positive change in a certain reality is the neighborhood challenge campaign in Mexico City that leads up to the annual race organized by Nike. In this case, the reality that we wanted to hack was that people run more. We realized that there was an angle we could approach it from: people run more and are more motivated when they do it collectively. The idea was to create identities for each of the neighborhoods in Mexico City that registered in the race and get people to run for their clan. This generated competition between the clans in the city; people competed in the race for their neighborhood, trying to perform better than the rest. Whenever you hack a reality, you have to be able to measure the relative impact on people: the result was that in 2013 people ran more than 200,000 kilometers (around 40% of what was already being run in Mexico City in the same race), and in 2014 they ran around 650,000. Furthermore, Nike increased its sales of sport shoes, registration for the race sold out faster than ever, its running application was downloaded much more, and its social network users tripled. The results and benefits were measurable in terms of the people s reality and of the brand that hired us. Flock seeks to capitalize on the present while building the future, and thinks that is always a difficult balance to find. Sebastián Tonda told us that when faced with complex economic situations companies tend to stop innovating, but those are the times when innovation can make a bigger difference. Flock s challenge is to convince the world of that. N * CEO, Flock 28 March 2015 March

18 Negocios ProMéxico Mexico s Partner photos courtesy of fortinet Mexico s Partner Negocios ProMéxico Fortinet Cybersecurity Architecture Fortinet is the definition of a leading global cybersecurity company. Founded in 2002, it has presence in more than 120 countries and has operated in Mexico for ten years. It has more than fifty security professionals in our country and expects to close the year with eighty. Fortinet has more directly-hired personnel than any other security company and is estimated to generate around five hundred indirect jobs in Mexico. interview with gilberto vicente* and josué maturano** by negocios proméxico According to the latest IDC report, Fortinet is the number one security manufacturer in Mexico, in terms of market share. Fortinet has more than 176 authorized patents and 130 more pending authorization. Having our own research and leading-edge technology development that enable us to offer the best performance in the market, is what differentiates us from other manufacturers, says Josué. Fortinet was born in California and expanded worldwide through a strategy of direct and indirect coverage through its business partners (certified channels). Fortinet works in collaboration with Fortinet Forti- Guard and two of the country s three major CERT (Computer Emergency Response Teams): CERT UNAM and CERT Infotec. It also has a 1000 m 2 area in Mexico City that houses the Executive Briefing Center and two Data Centers, one of which is fully equipped with Fortinet s entire portfolio of security solutions, with the conditions to duplicate the operating environment of any Mexican company. Fortinet has several flagship solutions that are wellpositioned on the service providers, large and small and medium-sized businesses Mexican market and well recognized by a variety of analysts. These include the emblematic FortiGate (in its next-generation firewall (NGFW) and unified platform for threat management (UTM) modalities that consolidates up to sixteen security controls in an accelerated hardware platform), FortiAP (access points), FortiADC (application balancers), and FortiDDos (protection against distributed service denial attacks), among others. On March 13, Fortinet opened its Security Center. The aim of the new center is to bring the best of technology and information security to Mexican companies. The center, located in the heart of Mexico City, has a 2.5 million dollar data center; training classrooms for refresher courses and IT security certification to keep you ahead in knowledge; a technical assistance center primarily serving Latin America and the Caribbean in English, Spanish, and Portuguese; architectural consulting and design services, that enable the evaluation of operating environments and the definition of the best components for building secure IT architectures to meet regulations such as PCI, SOX, MAAGTIC-SI, or LFPDPPP of the IFAI; business development services, focused not only on technological components but the generation of initiatives and partnerships for the proper promotion of an IT security culture; classrooms for holding round tables and discussion with clients, analysts, Fortinet experts, and industry leaders, and a video recording set for producing educational and promotional content. Its strategy for accessing new markets is a comprehensive coverage model comprising consulting services, sales, channels, technical support, marketing, and business development. This allows us to be much closer to companies in Mexico; this coverage model, leveraged by education and awareness campaigns, enables us to reinforce the importance of information in Mexican companies and readies us to position Fortinet s strengths and be conceived as the strategic partner that organizations demand. Fortinet Mexico seeks to go beyond selling security technology to also provide security architectures that help enable business clients, without sacrificing performance and flexibility. In addition, it seeks to generate proximity through professional, expert and certified cybersecurity personnel, networks and applications, and service based on client specialty and profile financial, industrial, government, retail and service providers. Mexico is a reference in the use of information technologies in Latin America, both in public and private sectors, impacting the degree of investment in IT. This has allowed IT professionals to grow in number as well as expertise, and also increase the adoption of best practices, government models, and regulatory frameworks. Insofar as individuals, organizations, and institutions rely on technology to achieve their goals, information security plays a key role to enable this dynamic." According to company statistics, Mexico represents around 30% of computer threats virus, worms, targeted attacks and hacking, among others that are developed in Latin America. This, in addition to the fact that the boundaries of space, time, and device no longer exist, increasing the degree of exposure to such threats. For this reason, it is essential to have a complete infrastructure that considers the manufacturer as a network of partners/integrators that can respond to the demands of a growing, increasingly mature market in the definition of the levels of service it expects from suppliers. In addition, Fortinet has a nationwide contract with UPS for storage facilities to safeguard spare parts and equipment, in order to give clients the best possible response times and keep their businesses operating. Fortinet has several manufacturer certifications, including ISO 9001, and currently all its models are governed by official Mexican standards. Fortinet seeks to maintain and increase proximity to its clients and prospects by means of awareness campaigns and consulting services. Although today it has the biggest coverage and infrastructure of any security manufacturer in Mexico Fortinet s portfolio is available in Spanish and Portuguese, making it more competitive in Latin America it is aware that it might not be enough to satisfy the demands of a market as big as Mexico. For this reason, work with our network of partners is vital, and enables the generation of indirect jobs and the capabilities required by the market. In matters of threat research, Fortinet relies on FortiGuard, its threat mitigation development center. We were recognized in 2014 as the manufacturer that mitigated the most zero-day vulnerabilities. We also have a strong presence in business and in direct and indirect consulting through a network of partners that enables us to take our technology to countries where we have coverage. The features of Fortinet s portfolio allow it to maintain a fairly equal distribution of income among the major world regions (the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific), as it does at market segment level (service providers, large and medium companies); however, We would have to highlight the huge impact that our value proposal has had on the Latin American market where reduced budgets are not the exception, but the norm, and where the combination of our flat licensing-based business model and technological capacities characterized by the consolidation of services, is highly attractive to Latin American and Mexican companies. This allows us, unlike the majority of IT companies, to be highly relevant to the global income and therefore a great influence on decisions regarding product development and the company s coverage worldwide. Speaking of his vision going forward, Gilberto told us, We hope to grow our workforce by at least 35% and our coverage by 50% through business partners. The National Digital Agenda and digital inclusion projects are great catalysts for the adoption of robust security architectures, and it is our aim to be a fundamental piece of those efforts. However, business clients demand greater attention and through our two tools, the Service Center and the Executive Briefing Center, we are going to develop that proximity. N * Marketing Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Fortinet ** Commercial Director, Fortinet 30 March 2015 March

19 Negocios ProMéxico Mexico in the World photo courtesy of alejandra lagunes Mexico in the World Negocios ProMéxico Interview with Alejandra Lagunes Soto Ruiz Coordinator of the National Digital Strategy The National Digital Strategy arises from the urgent need for Mexico to have a digital policy to coordinate and strengthen efforts in the use of technology in all aspects of life for Mexicans, inside and outside government, to learn, do business, have better public services, and take advantage of the huge opportunities to be found in information and communication technologies (ICT). by proméxico ProMéxico (PrMx): How and why did the National Digital Strategy (NDS) arise? Alejandra Lagunes (AlLa): Aware of the importance of being on a par with the nations that have pushed digital agendas, President Enrique Peña Nieto has been committed since his campaign to generate one for Mexico. Early in his administration, he gave instructions for the policy to be developed and its implementation will be coordinated directly from the President s office, so that its action reaches throughout the Mexican government. Hence, the strategy was published in November 2013 although the work began from day one. First we worked on the design of the NDS under a collaborative approach between industry, academia, civil society, and government, and then we set the bases that will enable its implementation across all government ministries and bodies. PrMx: What are its main objectives? AlLa: The strategy is, above all, an effort to transform the government. We are seeking to build the government of the future today and make it efficient, modern and open, and improve relations with the public through the use of technology. But it is also about building ecosystems that enable people to undertake, participate, innovate, and incorporate technology into their everyday activities. Objectives of the National Digital Strategy 1) Governmental transformation 2) Digital economy 3) Transformation of the educational model 4) Universal and effective health care 5) Civic innovation and civic engagement These are objectives that will, transversally, impact the major goals of this administration established in the National Development Plan. PrMx: What is the role of the NDS in President Enrique Peña Nieto s current administration? AlLa: The policy is part of the Program for a Close and Modern Government, one of the three transversal programs that the president established in the National Development Plan for all public administration. In other words, it is implemented by all of us in government, regardless of whether our substantive activities concern security, health, or education, because government transformation is a necessity and an objective. In addition, the NDS takes on special importance because it is coordinated from the Presidential office, which speaks to the priority it carries in the current administration. PrMx: What do you mean when you talk about the digital economy of the NDS? AlLa: All over the world, the Internet has catapulted the emergence of new enterprises that live in a digital world. Every day there are more companies that do not have physical offices, but do business electronically, and the boom in creative industries and technology companies has become a driver of growth in many countries such as India and Brazil. That is what we refer to in the NDS: driving Mexico in an ecosystem of digital economy, of technological enterprise, that becomes a growth engine for the country. This is, of course, a job shared with the entrepreneurs, who are the ones who provide the ideas, but the government must do its part, and that is where lines of action related to the digital economy come in. For example, we are looking to build bases of trust and regulations conducive to electronic trade, support entrepreneurs through the INADEM, and make ICT a tool for financial inclusion that enables those without access to the credit and savings market to become banked. 32 March 2015 March

20 Negocios ProMéxico Special Feature photos archive Special Feature Negocios ProMéxico PrMx: How is the NDS linked to the country s productive sectors? AlLa: ICT is transversal across all productive sectors. It is used from agriculture to the aviation industry and across all the traditional industries. Its great power to transform is precisely what enables it to streamline processes and make companies more productive. Hence, by encouraging all Mexicans to use ICT, either through the development of digital abilities that we promote through education or the more than 265,000 spaces that are being Internetenabled through the Mexico Connected project, the NDS is promoting the development of all productive sectors throughout the country. One example is what it can do for the agriculture sector by means of open data government information that is delivered to the public so it can be used in applications, with more and better real-time information about agricultural products, producers can make better decisions about their crops, and this information reaches them through the use of ICT and the data we make public as part of the NDS. PrMx: We have heard of the Internet for All concept which will be key for democratizing access to digital tools in Mexico, but what are the tangible benefits for the population? AlLa: The constitutional reform in terms of telecommunications set the goal to take high-speed Internet to 75% of Mexican households by This will be possible thanks to the innovative regulations that are introduced by the reform and its secondary laws. Moreover, the Mexico Connected program will convert more than 265,000 public places into points of connectivity for all Mexicans. In addition, the core network, along with other public policies, will create a more competitive environment that gives more Mexicans access to the Internet. The first step is to give Mexicans more and better Internet access, from that point on the possibilities are infinite. PrMx: What impact does the NDS have on the country s business? AlLa: The NDS will generate a more dynamic entrepreneurial environment, since it seeks to turn Mexico into a country where the ICT industry is a real growth engine. Thus, it will positively impact the country s business, since the policy seeks to generate ecosystems that make it easier to negotiate, engage, and interact with the government. For example, enabling on-line procedures and services will make life easier for entrepreneurs, companies and the public, saving travel time and waiting, among other costs associated with completing a procedure. PrMx: What are the main projects of the NDS? AlLa: We have twenty-three secondary objectives. All the projects are important but I want to highlight four in particular. 1. GOB.MX is a single website for government procedures and services where the public can consult and complete procedures and access information from government ministries and bodies. There will also be a participation section to promote citizen engagement in public policies. 2. DATOS.GOB.MX will be our data and applications website. Here, all information in government hands will be turned into useful products: maps, displays, reusable databases, and case analyses for the development of evidence-based public policies. This project converts government information into a social asset for transparency, greater efficiency, engagement, innovation, and building together with the public. 3. Technology policy is the big how of the NDS. We are making government technology procurement more efficient and aligning it with the country s top priorities. In this way, we generate greater spending efficiency while ensuring that we will have the best tools to implement our policies. 4. Policy for the incorporation of ICT in education. For two years we have been providing fifth graders with devices to help them develop digital skills from an early age. The government has learned much from the process and we are working to continuously improve the project both on a mass scale today students in six states have laptop computers or tablets and as a pilot program. In addition to these projects are our initiatives in open government, the use of ICT to improve the quality and coverage of health services and prevention of violence, among many others that can be consulted on the website mexicodigital.gob.mx. PrMx: What has been the impact of the NDS so far? AlLa: We have made great strides, and I can mention a few examples. Last year we connected 64,000 public spaces. We have advanced more than 50% in our commitments to open government, which means greater transparency and valuable information for the public. We introduced the website datos.gob.mx with 296 sets of open data, which have been downloaded on more than 93,000 occasions. We launched ten public challenges to help the government to find better solutions to its problems and at the same time encourage entrepreneurs through the exercise of public spending. We distributed 709,000 tablets in the school year, we took Telesalud to eight federal prisons and launched the beta version of www. gob.mx, where you can see the entire digitalization process of procedures and services, in order to unify communication from the government. These are just some of the advances we are making every day, together with many citizens, civil society, and companies that have come on board with the project. The real impact is like a jigsaw The strategy is, above all, an effort to transform the government. We are seeking to build the government of the future today and make it efficient, modern and open, and improve relations with the public through the use of technology. But it is also about building ecosystems that enable people to undertake, participate, innovate, and incorporate technology into their everyday activities. puzzle taking shape, because many policies take time to bear fruit, as is the case with ICT and education. The important thing is that we have a clear direction and specific goals. We do not stop moving forward. PrMx: What can be said now of a Digital Mexico, or is it still too early? AlLa: A Digital Mexico is a Mexico that is fully inserted into the information society, in which ICT and the Internet are part of the everyday lives of Mexicans in ways that revolutionize every activity. This is the vision we have for 2018 and I believe it is a little early to look at our progress and think we have done enough. What I can say is that building a Digital Mexico is where we are headed and what we are working towards every day. I am convinced that by the end of this administration we will talk about a Digital Mexico and we will have met the goals we set. Undoubtedly, this Digital Mexico will have to intensify and improve because technology is always one step ahead; but to do so, the bases will be very well constructed thanks to what the NDS has been doing for over a year. N 34 March 2015 March