The Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), also known as Tecnológico de Monterrey, is a private non-profit Mexican university founded in 1943, recognised for its commitment to quality education, research, and entrepreneurship. Tec is rated as the 28th private university in the world by QS World University Rankings.

Tec 2030 identifies three challenging paradigms to confront:

1. One of the differentiating qualities of humans is our intelligence. If artificial intelligence can process information faster than human intelligence, what is the role of humans? What type of education should universities offer? 
2. We live in a world that is not sustainable in which there is little trust; an inefficient world in which it is not common  to share or work in teams. In such an environment, how can universities assume their responsibility of improving its surroundings?, and
3. In universities, should we question what no one bothers to question? Should we educate free and conscious beings? Should we encourage people to flourish? 

Tecnológico de Monterrey's School of Engineering and Science (EIC) created the Artificial Intelligence Hub (AI Hub) in November 2019 to address three challenging paradigms. The AI Hub aims to develop talent, technology, and capabilities based on the ethical use of AI for the social and economic development of Mexico. It is a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectorial, and international initiative. The AI Hub collaborates with the “Instituto de Emprendimiento Eugenio Garza Lagüera” (IEEGL) of Tec de Monterrey to execute an incubation/acceleration program for startups that use AI, called Programa de Aceleración de Startups en Inteligencia Artificial (PASIA) to measure the benefit to individual companies' performance and the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Official website: https://emprendimiento.tec.mx/en

PASIA, an initiative by fAIr LAC Jalisco

The idea of PASIA is to maximize the social benefit of a great entrepreneurial idea by using technology in an ethical manner.

The context of the incubation/acceleration program is fAIr LAC, a regional alliance led by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Latin America and the Caribbean to influence both public policy and the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the promotion of the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI). Formed by a diverse network of professionals and experts from academia, government, civil society, industry and the entrepreneurial sector.

fAIR LAC JALISCO:

The local initiative of fAIr LAC in Mexico is funded by the IDB, and Tecnológico de Monterrey in Guadalajara, Jalisco. In the IDB terminology, Tecnológico de Monterrey is the executing agency (“organismo ejecutor”) of the initiative. This means that Tecnológico de Monterrey receives funding from IDB, contributes matching funds in cash and in-kind and it is responsible for the planning and efficient and effective execution of the initiative. IDB also tracks progress, audits financial results, and provides expert consulting advice.  

This initiative seeks to foster the development of the artificial intelligence ecosystem in the State of Jalisco, promote the adoption of ethical and responsible use of AI in the region through the articulation of academia, civil society, the public sector and the private sector. In Jalisco, activities revolve around three interconnected components:

• To use AI techniques in the solution of social problems in partnership with the local government

• To create an entrepreneurial ecosystem of startups that use AI as a core technology

• Training in digitalization, data and artificial intelligence for public officials, academia, NGOs and other key stakeholders. 

The entrepreneurship component serves as one of the main differentiators from other initiatives  that form part of the fAIr LAC initiative. In addition, this component is able to identify, accelerate and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem that works with systems that use technologies linked to AI techniques to change and impact some complex social problems, such as: education, security, agriculture and health. 

Events

Summit NextGen IA Health and IA – April 2023
The five subgrantees from LAC addressing female health, cancer detection, and accessibility were brought together in Jalisco, Guadalajara in a Summit with AI experts and stakeholders. Have a look at the event in the video below: 

 
A dedicated team from the third generation of PASIA, the femtech startup WARMI focuses on women's well-being, spanning health, insurance, mental health and more. Their passionate pitch highlighted their commitment to transforming women's healthcare.

Ongoing projects

DELEE

Next-generation cancer diagnostics and treatment monitoring.

The CytoCath, insignia product, automatically processes a blood sample in less than 20mins isolating the Circulating Tumor Cells with over 96% capture efficiency.

Find more information on Delee.

SOYWARMI

Femtech Social for the improvement and transformation of healthy habits.

Wellness is not limited to diet and fitness, but includes preventative and emotional health as a key component,  financial protection, and active awareness of personal violence through self-awareness and self-love.

Find more information on Soywarmi.

EPILIQUID

Early cancer detection providing solutions to screening, diagnosis, and follow-up of cancer patients.

Early cancer detection using specific biomarkers through liquid biopsies that are accesible to contribute with equity and access and quality healthcare.

Find more information on Epiliquid.

LAIA

Pap smear detection software using AI techniques.

LAIA helps Clinical Laboratories to detect cervical cancer lesions with Artificial Intelligence, which can analyze patient samples and prioritize samples that are precursors of cancer or have cancer itself.

Find more information on Laia.

NEURALWORKS

Accesibility technologies, intelligent and affordable tools for the population with disabilities, to improve living conditions and achieve inclusion.

State of the art technology that implements machine learning models to provide accurate translations for the deaf and hard of hearing to ease communicating symptoms and medical history without the risk of misinterpretation of medical information due to communication barriers.

Find more information on NeuralWorks.

Juan José Pacheco

National leader of accelerated incubation of the Eugenio Garza Lagüera Entrepreneurship Institute of the Tecnológico de Monterrey

His purpose is using his leadership and empathy to inspire others to transform their realities through entrepreneurship. He has more than 10 years of experience in five different cities of México working for entrepreneurs in several phases and with different goals such as product launching and sales. He is in charge of The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Zone of Tec de Monterrey’s Western Region, where you can find programs such as “PASIA”, the first Acceleration Program for Startups developing Artificial Intelligence in Latin America; “From Science to Market”, an incubator for scientists with intellectual property and ZiEN Ventures, a venture builder for undergraduate and graduate students.

Fabiola Velarde Galicia

Specialist in technological development, Tecnológico de Monterrey

Fabiola Velarde Galicia is an industrial engineer from the University Tecmilenio, master in Data Science from the CUCEA of the University of Guadalajara. She is a consultant with experience in social programs, companies with corporate social responsibility and NGO’s. She has participated in different pilot and research projects with national and international organizations. In addition, she has carried out various studies on issues of social impact, gender, migration, the energy sector and entrepreneurship. Currently, she is a specialist in the development of technologies for the market at the Eugenio Garza Lagüera Entrepreneurship Institute of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, where she coordinates activities such as the fAIr LAC Jalisco initiative from the entrepreneurship component, which promotes the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence through efficient social services.

Enrique Cortés

Director

Enrique Cortés-Rello has extensive international experience in the application of advanced information technology to enable the digital transformation of businesses in multiple industries. Currently, Enrique is the Director of the Artificial Intelligence Hub of Tecnológico de Monterrey, one of the first AI ecosystems in Latin America, and a technology advisor to several investment funds in Mexico and Europe. Previously, Enrique was the managing director of Luxoft Mexico, a Swiss firm that specializes in the use of advanced technology such as data science and Artificial Intelligence for digital transformation in industries such as automotive, agribusiness, and electronic commerce. Prior to that, Enrique worked for Perot Systems/Dell in India, the UK, U.S., and the Philippines helping global customers digitalize their business in the travel, utilities, telecommunications, financial, and healthcare industries. Enrique has Master and PhD studies in Computer Science with specialization in AI from Arizona State University. He also attended the “Leading Professional Services Firms” program at Harvard Business School.

Juan Roberto Hernandez

General Coordinator of fAIr LAC Jalisco

With 10 years of experience in the management of social projects in the public and private sectors, he has ventured into the development and implementation of initiatives that seek the social good. Through culture and the use of technology, it has promoted a more inclusive society in terms of human rights, non-discrimination, digital transformation and citizen participation. In 2011 he was the winner of the Mexican National Youth Award in the category of Contribution to political and democratic culture. He was deputy director of institutional development in the cultural area of ​​the municipality of Zapopan from 2012 to 2015. In the Visor Urbano project he was coordinator of communication, linkage and institutional development, and delivery manager, this project was financed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, as part of the Mayors Challenge 2016 and it was a project that through technology sought to reduce corruption in the city of Guadalajara. Since 2020 he has been the coordinator of fAIr LAC Jalisco, an initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank, Tec de Monterrey, Government of Jalisco and C Minds, which seeks to promote the use of ethical and responsible AI.