The Assistant Director of Regional Development from the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología) notes that the 39 projects are product of every productive sectors’ consensus, which guarantees its concordance with the State’s vocation, considering weaknesses and strengths of each sector. The Innovation Agenda of Sinaloa is part of a federal Government’s strategy to strengthen the capacities of the Republic’s 32 States and to eliminate disparities among the federal entities.
Micha Zaga exhorts private sector to recognize the importance science, technology, research and innovation have in their productive processes, being that the most successful countries invest private resources decidedly: “The outlay of [successful] countries in science and technology has two components: public and private; that is something we must implement in Mexico, we cannot reach what other countries make, where private outlay is far greater. […] At the most, most successful is almost 80-20, something reasonable would be 70-30; here we are totally the other way around. Traditionally, the public sector invests much more, 70-30, where the Government invests much more”.
Once delivered the Agenda to the productive sectors and the State and its municipalities, Micha Zaga emphasizes that science and technology must be seen as indispensable motors for development, so that the State can get ahead: “The recommendation for the involved is that —there’s no doubt— science, technology and innovation are indispensable to the material improvement of people, of the citizens, of the families, it is a necessary condition to development; let’s all collaborate in the matter, let’s make our greatest effort to direct resources to this… [The exhortation is made to] federal, state and local Government, and above all to private initiative”.
The federal public servant recognizes that, concerning to public investment, the State continues being low, although he says there has been a raise with Enrique Peña Nieto which hadn’t occurred in the past 20 years: “There’s the commitment of reaching 1% on public and private outlay in the years of this administration. The last hasn’t been calculated, we were in 0.45% when Enrique Cabrero assumed his position [in CONACyT]; we believe that [now] we are above 0.6%”.
Food sector
The portfolio of Sinaloa is based on the State’s vocation for food production, as well as on the fact of being the main vegetable producer, producing 33% of the Mexican shrimp, having an important cattle breeding and aquaculture structure; all which makes of Sinaloa the producer of 30% of Mexico’s food.
Thus, the agenda designed by CONACyT and entrepreneurs has projects for 10 sectors, 7 of which are associated to food production or the exploitation of productive process’ waste (such as mango peel or shrimp’s).
“The projects are focused on increasing competitiveness, so they can become products of major added value, which is the global trend nowadays, is innovation’s topic; that the ideas be what the path marks for these projects in food sector, chiefly”, expounds.
Weaknesses are also considered, as the lack of human resources with higher academic and specialization levels, the poorly adequate offer to the demand, the each day more influential climatological factor, the absence of linkage between the academy and the research centers, a sector dependent of high inputs and technology, and a market of products in the hands of intermediaries.
“Here the business sector has intervened, productive sectors, federal and state Governments took part, many opinion leaders, well versed on the subject citizens, it has been worked from the basis, with the producers. It appeared as a natural exercise, it is not a theoretical exercise, it is practical one, the methodology is bottom-up, and that’s how it was made”, defends.
Luis Torreblanca, Director of Technological Development and Innovation, considers that fortunately Mexico still count with the demographical bonus, therefore many people is preparing in a high level for the sector: “All the competencies required to take benefit of this cheap energy and growth which in consequence are going to have all the sectors, fortunately is in the generational boom, there is a fair amount of young people who is studying, a million which is studying engineering, there is good raw material of talent that can be used in such sectors”.
The cheap energy Sinaloa will have based on natural gas will be a strategical part for competitiveness repairing; which, joint to State’s natural resources, place Sinaloa in a good position.
He admits that is in specialization where Sinaloa has weakness: “There is in Mexico… we see a concentration, 35%, 40% of researchers is in the metropolitan area of D. F. [Mexico City]; we must revert this trend. In this aspect, it might be said that we have some sort of disadvantage: there are some States where research and development, laboratories and big universities are concentrated. There, Sinaloa has its deficiencies. Definitely, with this effort to change the priorities per State, what CONACyT aims is to support so there will be a better regional distribution of the activities”.
Sectors with potential
State’s potential does not focus just in food, the Innovation Agenda of Sinaloa stablishes projects in technologies of information, which main strength is the high volume of graduates from careers of informatics and engineering: each year, formulates the document, 2800 youths graduate from universities, 50% of them in technological platforms, which is why there is a surplus regarding the offer and the demand of human talent. Other advantages are attractive governmental supports, a technological park and competitive costs.
The found weaknesses for technologies of information are enterprises poorly linked with the academy, the international reach of commercial activities the enterprises from Sinaloa have is minimum and the market is very varied, whereas the field of Sinaloa’s enterprises is lower than the actual necessities.
And the reason is that the principal clients of the sector are Government units, the pharmaceutical industry, and sectors such as commercial, touristic, agricultural and educational.
In tourism, the Agenda considers Sinaloa has strengths, as sun destinies, nautical tourism, besides natural, historical and cultural attractions. As for weaknesses, it is required the regional building of infrastructure projects, promoting the aerial connectivity, there is a loss of identity in local towns, lack of training and culture on tourism, in addition to the absence of continuity for the positioning programs of their touristic destinies.
Urgent projects
These are some of the projects included in the Innovation Agenda of Sinaloa.
Agriculture
– Integral system of certification and innocuousness.
– Generation of new tomato varieties, resistant to plagues and diseases, with better taste and higher nutritional value.
– Plan to achieve the consolidation of strategical clusters.
– Research to analyze the feasibility of exporting vegetables to Asia.
– Applied innovation to corn productive system.
Cattle breeding
– Herd’s repopulation.
– Genetic improvement of the breeding stock.
– Cattle breeding’s productive chain strengthening.
– Optimization of fatting up processes, behavioral analysis of breeds, crossbreed and nutrition.
Fishing
– White shrimp’s repopulation.
– Promotion of fishing and aquaculture productivity through the upgrading of dew ponds.
– Certification for wild shrimp by the Marine Stewardship Council.
Aquaculture
– Development of strategies to recover white shrimp productivity.
– Integration of an aquaculture cluster.
– Improvement of productive processes.
* Nutraceutical
– Evaluation center of nutraceutical characteristics.
– Cluster of nutraceutical products.
Agroindustry
– Electronical equipment for bean cleaning.
– Elaborate products made out of mango peel and pit.
Information technologies
– Consolidation of products for exportation, and establishing a commercial office in California.
– Creation of a research center on data analytics.
– Improvement of student’s skills on basic, media and higher education.
Logistics
– Centrals for charge and multimedia transfer.
– Development for urban mobility control.
Tourism
– Integration of a touristic cluster.
– Certification of touristic destinies and products.
– Creation of software for promotion and commercialization of touristic destinies.
– Development of touristic offer and commercial strategy.
Biotechnology
– Detection and selection of carotenoid microorganisms on fishing industry waste.
– Selection of sugarcane varieties in order to cogenerate energy on sugar factory.
Source: Noroeste journal. http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=1013383&id_seccion=4&fecha=2015-03-04. Translated by Belem Ruiz (Edition and Communication, PIT-UAS).