Under the theme “Towards the Formation of Industry 4.0,” began the thirty-seventh Annual National Convention of the National Chamber of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology (CANIETI) this week.

The inaugural speech was made by Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Secretary of Communications and Transport (SCT), on behalf of President Enrique Peña Nieto. Esparza highlighted the important work of CANIETI in terms of investment in the telecommunications sector, he mentioned the growth of more than 9% since last year.

Featured Mexico Statistics

In 2015, internet access in Mexico rose from 41 million subscriptions to more than 62 million, while mobile broadband increased from 22 to 57 per 100 inhabitants, and internet penetration of mobile broadband grew 21%, so Mexico was placed as the fastest growing country in the OECD.

According to the data from the OAS, cybercrime in Latin America and the Caribbean generates costs of about US$90 billion a year to governments, businesses, and individuals. “We know that CANIETI is determined to take action to strengthen cybersecurity,” said Ruiz Esparza and specified that “we are open to hear their proposals for combating these crimes together.”

Telecommunications Key to Industry Development

Today the telecommunications sector is already a strong engine of economic growth in Mexico; it is a detonator of social development that has direct and tangible benefits for families.

Canieti’s National President, Mario de la Cruz, said the infrastructure development of modern and adequate telecommunications is key to developing the industry, and stressed that by 2020 internet penetration will reach 84 million Mexicans. At the same time, there will be 369 million devices connected, which will undoubtedly change the way we work, learn and we live.

“Specifically, the main challenges we must face as an industry are to continue improving the skills of the market in order to offer more and better services,” said de la Cruz. “We need to also generate public policies that encourage continued investment in infrastructure to increase the radio spectrum available to dealers, make sure the shared network is realized successfully, and provide greater benefits to Mexicans through coverage and telecommunications services prices.”

He specified the necessity for Mexico to develop a cybersecurity strategy that allows better protection and security to the three branches of government, businesses and, above all, users. It is a dynamic industry that grew at a rate of 8.4% in 2Q16.

Mexico City Approach

During the opening ceremony, Solomon Chertorivski, Secretary of Economic Development for Mexico City, attended on behalf of the head of Mexico City’s government. He mentioned that the Mexico City in recent years has opened doors and created the conditions for those interested in investing in the city they can do easily and stressed that in the city, are deploying more than US$5 billion of investment into broadband connectivity for the capital.

He also mentioned that around 12,000 engineers graduate annually in Mexico City, thus, global IT companies have consolidated new centers of global support, service centers, development centers and research, which has turned Mexico City into one of the most important Latin American centers of Information Technology and Telecommunications.

Moreover, during his talk, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, Secretary of Economy (SE), highlighted the economic prospects of Industry 4.0 and mentioned that Mexico’s IT market is currently worth US$20 billion.

Finally, Ruiz Esparza invited all partners to further advance this great legacy that, together, we can enhance the community of all Mexicans.