Technology Hub

Technology Hub was founded in 2015 with the mission of enhancing the entrepreneurial and startup climate of the El Paso–Juárez region. The organization is headquartered in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and has an office in El Paso, Texas.{{cite web|url=https://t-hub.mx/en/sobre-tech-hub|title=About Tech Hub|accessdate=July 23, 2020|website=t-hub.mx}}

File:Technology Hub building in Juarez- from outside.jpg

In the long term, Technology Hub is working to move the city's low skill manufacturing industry into an innovation cluster.{{Cite news|url=https://www.marketplace.org/2017/10/20/business/looking-for-tech-innovators-mexicos-ciudad-juarez|title=Looking for tech innovators in Mexico's Ciudad Juarez|access-date=July 30, 2018}} 60 percent of the jobs in Ciudad Juárez are located at its more than 300 foreign assembly plants,{{cite news |last1=El Paso Inc News Editors and Partners |first1=El Paso Inc News Editors and Partners |title=Tech campus launched in Juarez |url=http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/tech-campus-launched-in-ju-rez/article_70a841e2-c37c-11e5-a91b-4fc1ef4c2f05.html |accessdate=July 30, 2018 |agency=El Paso Inc |publisher=El Paso Inc |date=January 26, 2016}} and most of them are low-wage and low-skill positions.{{cite news |last1=Ortiz Uribe |first1=Mónica |title=Workers in Mexico's border factories say they can barely survive, so they're turning to unions |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-02-29/workers-mexicos-border-factories-say-they-can-barely-survive-so-theyre-turning |accessdate=July 30, 2018 |agency=Public Radio International |publisher=American Public Media |date=February 29, 2016}} In 2016 Ciudad Juárez was found to have some of the lowest formal employment wages in Mexico. Technology Hub's economic development projects look to change these statistics through training and enablement programs, taking the suggestion of accredited Stanford research that concludes “…highly specialized innovation workers, such as engineers and designers, generate about three times as many local jobs for service workers — such as doctors, carpenters, and waitresses — as do manufacturing workers".{{cite news |last1=O'Toole |first1=Kathleen |title=Enrico Moretti: The Geography of Jobs |url=https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/enrico-moretti-geography-jobs|accessdate=July 30, 2018 |agency=Stanford Graduate School of Business |publisher=Stanford |date=June 10, 2013}}

File:TechnologyHub 2020 Office Space Cubicles.jpg

The operation is centered around the redesigned, refurbished former US consulate facility in Ciudad Juárez.{{Cite news|url=https://www.archdaily.com/882578/technology-hub-had-dv|title=Technology HUB / HADVD Arquitectos|date=December 26, 2017|work=ArchDaily|access-date=July 30, 2018|language=en-US}} The 1.8 acre compound was designed to promote successful enterprises by creators, students, and industry entrepreneurs in the region.

The State of Chihuahua Innovation and Economic Development Secretary Alejandra de la Vega moved the government agency's headquarters from the state capital into Technology Hub's facility in 2016.

File:TechnologyHub 2020 meeting event presentation.jpg

Offering technical training, networking, and mentoring programs, Technology Hub houses a 3D printing Fab lab, a virtual reality demonstration development facility,{{Cite web|url=https://www.fablabs.io/labs/fablabjuarez|title=Fab Lab Juarez {{!}} FabLabs|website=FabLabs.io - The Fab Lab Network|language=en|access-date=October 20, 2017}} and regularly hosts bi-national tech events such as startup weekends, hackathons, Shark Tank-esque pitch contests, and women in STEM workshops.{{cite news |last1=Montes |first1=Aaron |title=Entrepreneurs face the 'sharks' in Juarez |url=http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/entrepreneurs-face-the-sharks-in-juarez/article_ea36bfc4-cd5d-11e7-8e80-a7d990377a21.html |accessdate=July 30, 2018|agency=El Paso Inc |date=November 20, 2017|ref=5}}{{cite news |last1=Miranda |first1=Gil |title=It is important to invest in artificial intelligence to generate more growth in different aspects of society |url=http://www.mexicoindustry.com/en/news/ciudad-juarez-chihuahua/fab-lab-offers-artificial-intelligence-courses |accessdate=October 10, 2018 |agency=Mexico Industry |publisher=Mexico Industry |date=January 1, 2018}} In 2017 and 2018,Technology Hub hosted RESET, the largest bi-national entrepreneurial event along the Mexico-US border. More than 3,500 university students attended the event to see industry figures from Amazon, MIT, National Geographic, NASA, and Marvel Comics, among others.{{cite web |title=UTEP Events Calendar|url=https://events.utep.edu/event/reset_binational_innovation_and_entrepreneurship_summit |website=University of Texas El Paso |publisher=University of Texas El Paso |accessdate=October 10, 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306530|title=Entrepreneurship Has Created a New Mindset for Youth on America's Southern Border|last=Rashid|first=Brian|date=April 11, 2018|work=Entrepreneur|access-date=July 30, 2018|language=en}}

Technology Hub works collaboratively with companies operating in Ciudad Juárez on programs for data mining, human capital development, and other industry topics. Technology Hub has also worked with financial backer Microsoft on the latter's TechSpark initiative{{cite web |last1=Batista |first1=Alba |title=Microsoft in Juárez: Empowerment through technology |url=http://t-hub.mx/en/blog/55/microsoft-in-juarez-empowerment-through-technology |website=t-hub.mx |publisher=t-hub.mx |accessdate=October 31, 2018}} and to deliver the RESET program.{{cite web |author1=Alba Nidia Batista |title=Technology HUB partners with Microsoft to support education in the Region |url=http://t-hub.mx/en/blog/49/technology-hub-partners-with-microsoft-to-support-education-in-the-region |website=Technology HUB |accessdate=October 31, 2018|language=English |date=2018-07-03 |quote=In the spirit of promoting education in technology, Microsoft has officially become the first sponsor for RESET 2018; the largest binational entrepreneurial event in the metropolitan region along the U.S./Mexico border}}

The Bridge Accelerator is a bi-national supplier development program in the El Paso–Juárez region implemented by Technology Hub and its U.S.-based sister organization Pioneers21.{{cite web|publisher=Nexstar Media Group |date= October 26, 2019|title=Border cities team up to help businesses cash in on global trade|website= kdvr.com|accessdate= January 18, 2020|url= https://kdvr.com/2019/10/26/border-cities-team-up-to-help-businesses-cash-in-on-global-trade/}}{{cite news|last=Foster|first= Tom |date =August 2019|title=How I Built Thriving Businesses on Both Sides of the U.S.-Mexico Border (and Why I Wouldn't Do It Any Other Way)| newspaper= Inc |accessdate= January 23, 2020|url= https://www.inc.com/magazine/201908/tom-foster/ricardo-mora-technology-hub-mexico-texas-border-immigration-juarez-el-paso.html}}{{cite web|last=Smith|first= Brad |date=October 14, 2019| title=TechSpark El Paso-Juarez: Igniting digital transformation throughout the Borderplex|publisher=Microsoft Official Blog, On the Issues |accessdate= January 18, 2020|url=https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2019/10/14/microsoft-techspark-el-paso-juarez/}}{{cite web|author=Microsoft|date= October 14, 2019|title= Microsoft announces TechSpark El Paso-Juárez|publisher=PR Newswire|accessdate= January 18, 2020|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/microsoft-announces-techspark-el-paso-juarez-831551269.html}}{{cite news|last=Kolenc|first= Vic |date=October 14, 2019|title=Microsoft president in El Paso announces $1.5M investment to grow manufacturing on the border|newspaper= El Paso Times|accessdate= January 23, 2020|url= https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2019/10/14/microsoft-announces-juarez-economic-development-project/3948111002/}}{{cite web|author=News Center Microsoft Latinoamérica |date=October 15, 2019|title=Microsoft anuncia TechSpark El Paso-Juárez, su compromiso con la innovación y la oportunidad económica en la región|publisher= Microsoft|website= News Center Microsoft Latinoamérica|accessdate= January 19, 2020|url=https://news.microsoft.com/es-xl/microsoft-anuncia-techspark-el-paso-juarez-su-compromiso-con-la-innovacion-y-la-oportunidad-economica-en-la-regionmicrosoft-anuncia-techspark-el-paso-juarez-su-compromiso-con-la-innovacion-y-la-opor/}}{{cite news |author=Redacción |date=October 15, 2019 |title=Microsoft impulsará innovación en Ciudad Juárez |newspaper=El Universal|accessdate= January 19, 2020|url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/techbit/microsoft-impulsara-innovacion-en-ciudad-juarez}}{{cite news|last=Sanchez|first=Sara |date=October 20, 2019|title=Microsoft to expand TechSpark to Juárez, invest $1.5M|newspaper= El Paso Inc|accessdate= January 23, 2020|url=http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/microsoft-to-expand-techspark-to-ju-rez-invest-m/article_f628abd6-f375-11e9-9021-3f39764f2fc9.html}} It was launched in the spring of 2019 with the aim of improving local SME participation in the regional 39 billion-dollar supply chain, where only 2 percent of the manufacturing inputs currently come from local El Paso or Juárez suppliers.

The program consists of twelve weeks of company training on topics including IT and data analytics, and is designed to create advantageous connections between entrepreneurs and corporations. Program workshops are held on both sides of the border, at Technology Hub Juárez and at an incubator in El Paso.

Six Mexican and six American companies take part in each Bridge Accelerator cohort, with the program scheduled to run twice a year through 2022. Participating companies are required to be in business for at least two years and must be based in the region.

The Bridge Accelerator pilot program in 2019 worked with 11 local businesses from El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, creating 33 new jobs and receiving 52 purchase orders worth $1.48 million. Following the results of the pilot, President Brad Smith of Microsoft announced a $1.5 million investment to extend The Bridge Accelerator for another 3 years through the Microsoft TechSpark program in El Paso-Juárez, labeling it their ‘signature project’ in the region. The Bridge program plans to use this funding to train 75 companies in six cohorts over the next three years, with the goal of these companies receiving least $7.5 million in new purchase orders and creating 200 new jobs.

A second Bridge Accelerator cohort ran in the spring of 2020.{{cite web|url= https://preview.hs-sites.com/_hcms/preview/content/32176432186?portalId=5986231&_preview=true&cacheB%20ust=0&preview_key=oCbRvZnk&from_buffer=false | title=Spring 2020 Final Report|publisher=The Bridge Accelerator|accessdate=July 24, 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://elpasoheraldpost.com/technology-hub-pioneer-21s-bridge-accelerator-2020-open-for-enrollment/|newspaper=El Paso Herald-Post|date=January 9, 2020|accessdate=July 24, 2020|author=|title=Technology Hub, Pioneer 21's Bridge Accelerator 2020 Open for Enrollment/}}{{cite web|url=https://pdnfoundation.org/news/bridge-accelerator-program-brings-opportunity-to-startup-companies-with-demo-day-virtual-event|title=Bridge Accelerator Program Brings Opportunity to Local Companies with Demo Day Virtual Event|date=June 23, 2020|accessdate=July 24, 2020|publisher= Paso Del Norte Community Foundation}} Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, The Bridge Accelerator program was moved entirely online starting in March, but still finished with a virtual-attendance Demo Day event on June 26, 2020.

The Bridge Accelerator is sponsored and supported by many other large organizations invested in the El Paso-Juárez region.

{{Reflist}}

• {{official|t-hub.mx/en}}
• [http://tb-xl.com/ The Bridge Accelerator official website]

Category:Business incubators

Category:Companies based in Ciudad Juárez

Category:Companies based in El Paso, Texas

Category:Entrepreneurship organizations

Category:Private equity

Category:Technology companies established in 2015

Category:2015 establishments in Mexico