Cross-border map seen as tool to promote the region - Internet map looks at four strategic industries that straddle the border
From The San Diego Union Tribune
By Sandra Dibble
TIJUANA - "Promoters of economic growth along the California-Mexico border on Monday unveiled their newest push to bring investments and jobs to the
region: a binational, online map.
Developers of the asset map hope it will send a powerful message to the world about offerings in what's called the Cali Baja Bi-National Mega-Region,
from manufacturing know-how to integrated supply chains to a skilled labor force. They aim to jointly showcase Baja California and San Diego and
Imperial counties, an area of nearly 29,000 square miles with a combined annual gross domestic product of $202.4 billion and a labor force of 3.1
million, according to the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation.
The map, which is displayed at calibaja.net, shows "we are stronger together than we are just by ourselves," said Christina Luhn, director of the
Mega-Region Initiative for the EDC. "This puts us on the map in a different way."
Luhn helped unveil the project Monday during a presentation at Tijuana Innovadora, an 11-day campaign to promote Tijuana and build cross-border links
with San Diego County.
Still in its infant stages, the map currently shows data on four industry sectors considered strategic for the region's future growth: clean tech,
applied biotech, advanced manufacturing and logistics. The aim is to include agribusiness in the near future.
With the asset map, "we're able to communicate in a very precise fashion our capabilities," said David Mayagoitia, president of the Tijuana Economic
Development Corporation, which is participating in the mapping effort. "It establishes what our assets are in a very professional, systemic way."
The Visualization Center at San Diego State University has been key to constructing the map, which is expected to evolve over time as fresh data are
entered and more categories are added. The challenge has been obtaining statistics from the Mexican side, which lacks the large databases commonly
available in the United States. Pinpointing locations in Mexico also can be more difficult, but the map's authors said the results are worth the
effort.
"Mexico can never be competitive if it's unknown where all the businesses are," said Eric Frost, director of the Visualization Center, who has been
advising the project. "This is trying to put them all together and make these connections."
The effort has cost $48,000 so far, Luhn said. Funding has come from both sides of the border, including Tijuana's municipal government, the Ensenada
Economic Development Commission, the Imperial County Workforce Development Board and individual supporters of the Mega-Region initiative in San Diego,
she said.
The map's potential is vast, said Luhn, who hopes it can ultimately include characteristics such as the region's cultural and educational offerings,
information about nonprofit groups and trade flows.
"We want to use it beyond the obvious business piece of that," she said. "We want universities to figure out a way to collaborate, to bring the region
together."
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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