UPAEP: Mexico’s Competitiveness Hinges on Missing Infrastructure

Mexico’s short and long-term global competitiveness rests on becoming technology developers and innovators. Supporting this opportune transition has the potential to curb foreign technology imports, accelerate the nation’s migration to Industry 4.0 and establish Mexico as a center of multidisciplinary innovation, according to academic directors at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP).

It is unnecessary for Mexico to continue purchasing from foreign technology producers when it has the capacity to develop and manufacture those products. Furthermore, it is important to Mexico’s business community who stands to make consequential industry advances based on these technologies, explained Aldrette Malarca, Academic Secretary and Dean of Engineering, UPAEP. 

For the second consecutive year in a row, Mexico ranked among the ten least competitive countries in a ranking by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), placing in 37th place of the 43 nations assessed. Meanwhile, in the sphere of innovation, Mexico ranked 55th of 132 countries evaluated in the annual Global Innovation Index. In an emerging digital economy, these intrinsically related indicators illustrate both the technological development latency of Mexico, and the significance of the present to utilize the plentiful talent at its disposal. 

National undergraduate and postgraduate levels indicate that Mexico is producing the talent needed to transform the country from a technology consumer to a producer, said Malacara. Cumulatively, graduates have the competency to position Mexico as a regional leader in technology development and drive innovation in academic disciplines that companies need to make advances in their respective industries. Building up this productive capacity, however, rests on infrastructure that currently does not exist and will require significant public and private investment to construct.  

“Mexican engineers often have to rely on foreign technology suppliers, because although Mexico has the talent and know-how to develop them, there is a lack of infrastructure to develop the pieces,” said Argelia Fabiola Miranda Pérez, Postgraduate Researcher, UPAEP.

Overall, market indications are very clear: technology is increasingly necessary across all industries. Mexican academic institutions have responded in turn with competitive programs to support their development, said Alfredo Toriz Palacios, Academic Director of Postgraduate Mechatronics, UPAEP. However, those reaping the greatest benefit from Mexico’s generation of technological talent are international and nearshoring companies that have espoused the funds to build engineering centers that promote innovation.