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In part 1 of this series of articles, we described FUMEC’s vision on collaboration aimed at filling the gaps in the supply chains through a concerted nearshoring strategy supported by innovation clusters empowered by AI to influence regional competitiveness, opening opportunities to Mexican companies that contribute regional content and higher value to North America. In part 2, we discussed the use of the iCluster data mapping methodology applied to identify clusters in CaliBaja, a US-Mexico border megaregion that hosts strong industrial corridors, identifying how neighbor economies generate jobs and economic development through binational clusters. In part 3, we will focus on how iCluster can help to identify opportunities in one critical industry that impacts the competitiveness and innovation of a wide spectrum of clusters, opening opportunities to build regional innovation ecosystems: semiconductors (SC).
The trade transition from broad globalization to more regionalized trends due to geopolitical tensions, supply chain vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19, and rising nationalism increased the tendency to reshore production back home and nearshore to allied nations. This trend is clearly shown in its early stages at binational megaregions such as CaliBaja (comprising Imperial and San Diego counties in California and the Baja California municipalities). CaliBaja is active in the semiconductor value chain as a megaregion.
FUMEC’s methodology for developing an SC roadmap involved a comprehensive data mapping process, encompassing design, qualitative and quantitative research, to support the Mexico Nearshoring Semiconductor Roadmap (MNSR) findings. The iCluster data mapping methodologies (cluster mapping, economic complexity, value chain mapping, and insight correlation) applied to extensive data collections and correlations to characterize different regions of Mexico for an in-depth analysis of opportunities, challenges, and capacity requirements combined with expert perspectives drawn from interviews and workshops. The quantitative analysis involved compiling numerical data from various sources (INEGI, Ministry of Economy, IMMEX, IMCO, AMPIP, Customs, TradeMap, US Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, state governments, and others) based on internationally-accepted dataset classification systems (mainly Harmonized System Codes and NAICS) to apply consistent criteria and metrics for correlation, matching and assessment of different aspects of the SC industry, market, and global supply chain. Analyzing SC trade flows provided valuable insights into the semiconductor international realm, the North American supply chain, and state purchases and sales of electronic components related to SC flows, supporting key perspectives such as market integration, regional capabilities and competitiveness, and supply chain interdependence and dynamics. Analyzing SC value chain specializations and capabilities, provided guidance for talent, infrastructure, competitiveness and innovation requirements. 
The MNSR Extended Value Chain Framework defined domains and stages of the SC value chain. Their intersections allow regions and firms to locate themselves on a particular point (or points) to find options to participate with the respective specialization and capability requirements. Prospective regions were organized into three groups: Northern Border, Central Corridor, and the Mexico City Zone of Influence.
The goal was to ensure Mexico’s position in the North American SC supply chains, identifying those Mexican states that carry out sector-relevant activities, as well as providing guidelines for those states that want to acquire a significant role in the North American SC supply chain in the future. The categorization was based on the following criteria:
States resulting from the above criteria were divided into two categories: (i) Prospective: with existing SC-CORE capabilities that are ready to enter the SC supply chain on a large scale in the short to-midterm; they all have some SC-related installed capacity — clean rooms, basic chip design facilities, or small fab operations. Baja California, as part of the CaliBaja megaregion, appears as a prospective state. (ii) Aspirational: with strong SC-USER capabilities (such as large concentrations of electronic maquiladoras) and no substantial SC-CORE capabilities that could be developed in a mid- to-long-term period and are well-positioned but not ready for SC-CORE work, possessing the main elements needed to enter the SC supply chain, including a qualified workforce, robust infrastructure, and good governance. However, they currently lack true SC installed capacity. This helps explain some designations that may initially seem counter-intuitive, such as why states like Nuevo Leon with extensive industrial capacity appear as aspirational.
The MNSR data mapping analysis compiled economic, workforce, infrastructure, and innovation indexes to characterize the semiconductor readiness of the prospective and aspirational states aimed at driving collaboration efforts to gradually build Mexican SC ecosystems that will contribute value to the North American SC supply chain. The analysis combined various types of subindexes mainly drawn from the 2023 State Competitiveness Index (ICE) published by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Economy and INEGI data applied to economic, workforce, and capability readiness. The MNSR delivered three-dimensional key comparative conclusions on the readiness of SC prospective and aspirational states in the Northern Border and Central Corridor regions.
The qualitative research utilized a combination of virtual and in-person meetings, interviews, and workshops with key stakeholders from academia, private industry, and government sectors across Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Semiconductors, seen as a core component of the ICT industry, act as a related industry — and a key component for competitiveness — of a wide diversity of clusters across Mexico (automotive, aerospace, electronics, medical devices, and others). FUMEC signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with The National Council of Software and IT clusters (MxTI) of Mexico, which launched a National Semiconductor Commission that helped to reach out to regional stakeholders in different regions of Mexico to conduct FUMEC’s qualitative analysis used to correlate its results with the MNSR quantitative findings to generate conclusions and recommendations.
In this third article we have discussed semiconductors as an emerging strategic industry that uses exponential technologies as enablers of regional innovation and added value and applies data science aimed at the competitiveness of regional value chains — two key components of the innovation cluster principles. The next step of the iCluster vision is to create innovation ecosystems formed by productive entities that develop complementary skills and capacities in terms of talent in key specializations, infrastructure, logistics, and other capabilities that add up to the competitiveness of regional supply chains, offering the means to interact, add value in the different stages of the “value chain” and exchange “value” among participants within the ecosystem. The semiconductor segment is a vigorous example of how to focus on a regional innovation ecosystem to participate in an emerging “value chain” that takes advantage of the iCluster original initiatives that applied to the CaliBaja megaregion in the iCluster origins in 2013:
FUMEC is proactively promoting the semiconductor industry in Mexico under the context of the North American SC value chain, offering support to create state SC plans under the MNSR Extended Value Chain Framework described above and deep diving into key topics as discussed in a previous article regarding cybersecurity and physical security. These plans use the iCluster methodologies applied to the eight stages of the MNSR SC value chain that could be different to each state in the mid- and long-term according not only to a detailed characterization of the local socioeconomic environment, but also as part of a regional strategy to participate in the North American SC value chain through the following innovation ecosystems:
As expressed in Part 1, “With the right tools and knowledge, innovation clusters empowered by AI have the potential to influence regional competitiveness, supporting agile responses to existing opportunities from Mexican companies that can contribute content and higher value to the NA region.”
(In collaboration with Alfredo Sánchez Alcántara, Vice Chair of FUMEC’s Board of Governors)
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