The Digital Creative City (CCD) began as an ambitious project of President Felipe Calderón and Jalisco Governor Emilio González Márquez. They announced it in January 2012, at the end of the six-year term, and it was retaken by the successive administrations, now with another party in power.
The CCD came across reality from its inception. The chosen area is a point of the city where crime, poverty, prostitution, and sale of drugs are common. In part, the project seeks to transform the area by attracting technology innovation companies.
To give a new impetus to the Digital Creative City, the government of Enrique Alfaro has announced its launch in the Jalisco Talent Land. The current government plans to correct the failures of the current CCD, present at the beginning of its development.
“We have redefined the recent creation of the Agency of Creative and Digital Industries of Jalisco. We are ready to detonate the activities and investment services in this strategic sector of the economy of the future and thus trigger the rebirth of this emblematic center, “said the governor of Jalisco on Tuesday.
History of the Digital Creative City
In its initial conception, the CCD sought to be an innovation hub where the technology industry and software development of Jalisco would be under one roof, taking advantage of the fact that there is already a presence of tech industries in the state. The promise was to turn it into a hotbed of Mexican talent and a long-term incubator. Likewise, MIT sponsored the project to turn Guadalajara into one of the most innovative cities on the planet.
In 2015, the project received funding of $ 500K from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to promote the benefits and development opportunities of the companies that would be installed in this center.
Alejandro Guzmán Larralde, coordinator of the economic cabinet of Jalisco, told a Mexican journal that “The original concept [of the CCD] was born well, along the way it was thought that Having only two buildings called Ciudad Creativa was going to attract many players, but the reality was not like that “.
Change of administration, change of course
With the transition of powers in Jalisco, the Digital Creative City began a process of reflection to correct errors in its development. Just in November of last year two of the three buildings that will make up the CCD around the Parque Morelos were completed. Due to the delays, the companies that planned to settle in this innovation center to date have not specified their arrival.
During 2019, the CCD buildings will be upgraded to achieve 60% occupancy of the spaces. Guzmán believes that by the second half of 2020, Ciudad Creativa Digital will be operating at 100 percent.
“We are working in stages. First, we are interested in holding the area of innovation and technological development represented,” said Guzmán Larralde. For a second stage, other creative industries such as fashion, jewelry and gastronomy will be integrated.
Jalisco Talent Network, the organization behind the innovation and entrepreneurship fair Talent Land, will be the first to be formally installed in this new stage of CCD.
The Jalisco government estimates an investment of 25 million pesos to complete the project.