Mexico's high tech hub gets IBM Innovation Center

IBM (NYSE:IBM) has opened an Innovation Center in Mexico City in part to develop the growing market for information technology.

The center is expected to provide local entrepreneurs, IBM business partners, and universities with access to training workshops, consulting services, technical infrastructure and assistance in marketing new technologies.

Mexico is considered a leader in energy R&D.

The nearby Mexican city of city of Guadalajara Jalisco is known as Mexico's silicon valley due to its strong electronics industry, and is also considered Mexico's high tech capital due to its leadership in software and informatics development. The Research & Innovation Technology Park, in Monterrey, known locally by its Spanish acronym PIIT, also supports innovation and technology development in biotech, nanotechnology, mechatronics, ICT and health science.

According to FDi magazine, Guadalajara is ranked "city of the future", higher than other Mexican cities, and has the second strongest economic potential of any major North American city behind Chicago. It was also rated among the top five most business-friendly Latin American cities in 2007. Companies such  as General Electric, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Motorola, Solectron, Flextronics, SCI, Kodak, Siemens, maintain tech and manufacturing centers.

IBM's support of home-grown innovation in Mexico aligns with a global trend in which regional tech centers such as this are moving up the technology value chain, beyond manufacturing, toward design, development and R&D.

IBM Innovation  centers offer a range of resources and training to help local startups and venture capitalists give birth to flourishing businesses. Along the way, IBM might score some goodwill points and strengthen its position in the market that it helps to grow, Fast Company reports.

"Big Blue now has 39 such innovation centers worldwide, in 32 countries. Would-be Mark Zuckerbergs in Budapest, Capetown, Jakarta, and Sydney all have an IBM center at their disposal. The centers helped out about 24,000 people last year, says IBM," according to Fast Company.