How Can Mexico Become More Innovative?
According to the OECD, Mexico ranks last in virtually all measures of innovation. Whether it’s R&D funding, patents, venture capitalists, or a climate of entrepreneurship, the country is far behind the rest of the industrialized world. Although Mexico has a growing innovation sector and pockets of start-up companies around the country, there is still a large gap compared to the rest of the industrialized world.
With the sponsorship of Rassini, and in partnership with the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI), the CSIS US-Mexico Futures Initiative will convene leading thinkers and policymakers in Mexico City on Tuesday, October 23 from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm CST (9:30-1:30 EST) to discuss these underlying topics. Simultaneous translation in English and Spanish will be provided. The event also will be livestreamed here: http://bit.ly/COMEXIlive.
Agenda (Mexico City time):
8:00 – 8:25 a.m. – Breakfast buffet
8:25 – 8:35 a.m. – Welcoming remarks from Richard Miles (CSIS) and Mariana Campero (COMEXI)
8:35 – 8:55 a.m. – Andrei Iancu, Director, U.S. Patent and Trade Office
9:00 – 10:00 a.m. – How Innovative is Mexico Today?
- Lynne Bairstow, founder and managing partner, MITA Ventures Fund
- Ruy Cervantes, Founder of Ideas to Results (ID2R)
- Alejandra Palacios, President of the Federal Commission on Economic Competitiveness (COFECE)
- Alberto Saracho Martínez, Executive Director, Fundacíon Idea (moderator)
- Vlatko Vlatkovic, Director General, General Electric Infrastructure Querétaro
10:05 – 11:05 a.m. – How Does a Country Get More Inventors and Entrepreneurs?
- Richard Miles, CSIS (moderator)
- Dr. Paul Sanberg, Founder, National Academy of Inventors, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
- Jackson Streeter, Director, Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research, Gainesville, Florida
- Demetrio Strimpopulos, founder, BanRegioLabs
11:05 – 11:15 a.m. – Break
11:15 – 12:15 p.m. – What Should Governments Be Doing, and Not Doing?
- Sergio Alcocer, National Autonomous University of Mexico
- Mario de la Cruz, Director of Government Affairs, CISCO
- Jacobo González Torres, Jalisco State Government (moderator)
- Nicolás Grosman, McKinsey Global Institute for Latin America
- Miguel Ángel Margain, Director of the Instituto Mexicano de Propiedad Industrial (IMPI)
12:15 – 12:30 p.m. – Concluding remarks
This event is made possible by support from Rassini.
