Zapopan, Smarter Cities Challenge executive summary

Introduction The City of Zapopan, , Mexico, was one of 16 cities selected to receive a Smarter Cities Challenge® grant from IBM in 2014 as part of the company’s citizenship efforts to build a Smarter Planet®. During three weeks in August 2014, a team of six IBM experts worked to deliver recommendations on a key challenge identified by Mayor Dr. Héctor Robles Peiro and his senior leadership team:

Create an Agro-Food Cluster, including an Industrial Park, that brings together Zapopan’s farmers, academies, companies and government agencies.

The goal is to quickly transform the Agro-Food Industry, improve quality of life for Zapopan citizens and establish the city as a role model for the state, nation and world.

The challenge Highlights: The City of Zapopan is known for its agricultural history, with generations of its farmers growing crops throughout the municipality and the state of Jalisco. Similar to many • Achieve speed to results, driving quick other industries, the Agro-Food Industry in and near Zapopan faces threats to its development of the Cluster, with the ongoing success. Industrial Park as its centerpiece • Establish trust between the City Specifically, many of the primary crops grown in Zapopan have become commoditized. government and key Cluster stakeholders This has caused tremendous pricing pressure and financial hardship for farmers, to ensure clarity and alignment forcing many of them to consider alternative income sources. At the same time, on each agreed-upon Cluster initiative housing developers are offering premium prices for farmland, which entices many • Build an environmentally, socially and farmers to exit the industry and results in unplanned urban development. The financially sustainable model consequences of unplanned urban development are twofold. First, it places unreasonable strain on existing infrastructure, such as roads, water and energy, causing a lower quality of life for Zapopan citizens. Second, it deprives the local area of farmland necessary to develop a thriving Agro-Food Industry in Zapopan.

Zapopan wants to dramatically transform its Agro-Food Industry so that it continues to thrive and becomes an area of sustainable growth for Zapopan, Jalisco and Mexico while earning Zapopan international recognition as an Agro-Food Industry leader. As a result, Zapopan hopes to attract capital investments, increase employment and quality of life for its citizens and attain a positive trade balance.

To help achieve this vision, the municipality, led by Mayor Dr. Robles has recognized the need for the development of an Agro-Food Cluster, which includes an Agro-Food Industrial Park in the municipality. The IBM Smarter Cities Challenge team is tasked with recommending a roadmap to implement the Agro-Food Cluster and the creation of its Industrial Park. Zapopan, Mexico Smarter Cities Challenge executive summary

Findings and recommendations We recommend action in three categories: The IBM team received tremendous support from Mayor Dr. Robles and 1. Organize the Agro-Food Cluster by creating a governance his staff throughout the challenge. They arranged for the senior leaders and operating model, along with its legal framework, to provide from the Agro-Food Cluster stakeholder organizations to meet with us structure and discipline for the organization. The team also should and share different perspectives on the Agro-Food Cluster so we might design and deploy Cluster services, design, build and integrate appreciate its various areas of potential. Our summarized observations appropriate Cluster assets, including the Industrial are as follows: Park, and establish a clear strategic direction for the Cluster. 2. Inform members of the Agro-Food Ecosystem of relevant Cluster Zapopan is well positioned to implement its Agro-Food Cluster, as activities, using robust online and digitized communications, it is renowned for its historic leadership in agriculture in Jalisco and both internally and externally, and by establishing a multiphased throughout all of Mexico. It owns the land intended for the Industrial information-as-a-service program to promote transparent data Park, which will exist as the centerpiece of the Agro-Food Cluster. flow to industry stakeholders. It has successfully implemented clusters in other industries, such 3. Sustain the Agro-Food Cluster environmentally, socially as the automotive and high-tech industries. Zapopan harbors an and financially by utilizing technology to manage water usage, entrepreneurial business environment that encourages new business establish a culture of collaboration driven by social platforms growth and benefits from a thriving academic community located and incorporate data analytics to help drive informed decisions in the greater Zapopan/ area. among Cluster members.

The Agro-Food Industry in Zapopan and the greater Jalisco area For more information already possesses many of the key components that will help the To learn more, send an email to [email protected] or visit City develop the Agro-Food Cluster. For instance, there is tremendous smartercitieschallenge.org government support, both at the municipal and state levels, a vibrant collection of universities and academies that promote R&D and business incubation that can help generate even more value from existing Agro-Food businesses. Conclusion Zapopan has the right vision, the right team and the necessary momentum to successfully implement the Agro-Food Cluster and the Industrial Park. There are tremendous opportunities that can emerge from the Zapopan must provide the leadership and assign key stakeholders implementation of the Agro-Food Cluster and Industrial Park. to organize the Cluster, deliver the framework to inform the Agro-Food By combining the strengths of Zapopan’s existing agencies, academies Ecosystem of Cluster news and help drive a model that will sustain and organizations, the Cluster can help dramatically improve the the Cluster long term. Implementing the Cluster will create new jobs, viability of Zapopan’s Agro-Food Industry. The City also will be able improve quality of life, fuel growth, generate private investment and to integrate processes, systems and data to provide a foundation for transform Zapopan into the global Agro-Food leader it aspires to be. the implementation of analytics that can drive more informed decision making throughout the Agro-Food Ecosystem, which includes the entire Agro-Food Industry, from stakeholders to Cluster members to consumers. Effective implementation of these new technologies can help promote trust and transparency throughout the industry, ensuring, for example, that farmers receive the best possible price for their crops based on real-time market data. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2014 IBM Corporate Citizenship, New Orchard Road, Armonk, NY 10504 Finally, there are three critical success factors to make this project Produced in the United States of America – September 2014 a success: All Rights Reserved 1. There must be visible results quickly. The current Zapopan The information in this document is provided “As Is” without any warranty, administration’s term expires in 2015, and there must be express or implied, including any warranties of merchantability, fitness for tangible progress in 2014 to build a solid foundation for a particular purpose and any warranty or condition of non-infringement. the next administration. IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Smarter Cities Challenge and Smarter Planet 2. There must be trust and transparency throughout the process. are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Organizations must adhere to their commitments and meet their Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. A current list of responsibilities. At the same time, the project must operate on IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at: ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml a common technology platform that provides data transparency. 3. The Cluster must become environmentally, socially and financially Map data @2014 Google sustainable quickly. This includes incorporating strategic initiatives for the use of water, establishing a culture of collaboration within the Cluster and utilizing data and analytics to enable stakeholders within the Cluster to make more informed decisions.