PLAi: the tool that empowers and connects you if you are looking to start a business in Jalisco

Nowadays, many people want to be entrepreneurs, however, sometimes they don't know how to start, who to ally with, or with whom to train to learn everything they need to know to start a company's entrepreneurship. For this reason, the Government of the State of Jalisco began with a project called PLAi, which seeks to train, connect and show others the innovative projects that exist.

The Open Innovation Platform (PLAI) is a strategic project of the Government of the State of Jalisco that, for three years, was proposed in the State Governance and Development Plan as a strategic project, which will be all that remains of the current administration, although it will be sought to continue later.

In an interview with Infobae Mexico, Nora Martín Galindo, Director General of Innovation and Business and Social Development, explains that the project will be monitored and the budget it needs to continue. “PlaI, as such, is a decentralized public body, it has its own structure, and even the director of PLAi is teacher Nadia Mireles, I am the General Director of Innovation and Business and Social Development, and I always work in coordination with them, to ensure that the project is potentialized”.

He explains that what is sought with PLAi is to make it a place where you can have courses in all specialties. “For this we have three components, PlaI is divided into Learn, Connect and Innovate. In the Learn part, what we do is, first, to make alliances with, even, other platforms, such as edx, such as Coursera, Udemi, which already have many courses available, of great value, and what we do are these alliances so that the general public can access them, but we also have a course called Digitize your SME, which is very successful, and what you are looking for is, precisely, that micro, small and medium-sized companies are digitized from the level they are at, there is marketing, we make programs for, even companies, that specifically requested a program to be able to train or find the talent that they need”, explains Nora Martín.

This part is one of the three components, that of Learn. Another one is Conectar. This arose, because they identified that there was a lot of valuable information and many people doing very interesting topics, both in the strategic sectors of the state, as well as in the incubation, acceleration part, everyone from their field, but this information was not in the same place, that is, it was scattered.

“Sometimes if you were looking for Technology Transfer offices, or accelerators, you had to go and search each site to find out what was there about it, and we thought it was of great value to develop a portal, in which the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem of the state was mapped, so when we talk about Connect, this is what we did the software development necessary for us to have these components, and in the end we could present to the user, as well as within Conectar, three major areas, that of opportunities, in which you find everything that is alive, what exists at the moment, for example, the calls that are open”, emphasizes Martín Galindo.

He mentions that in this section there are not only government options, but also from universities, research centers, companies that are dedicated to consulting on innovation issues. “Of all those who are doing something about innovation or entrepreneurship, which is currently open, which can be offered to a specific audience, then, in the Opportunities section you find this, success stories, innovation challenges, open calls, funds for certain projects, etc., then, there you can find it, there you can participate, what we do is, like you can see it in one place and you decide what to participate in.”

Another component of this section, Connect, is the Talent part, because there, what we wanted to do, is a Matchmaker, since there is a lot of specialized services that people often don't know where to find them. “When we are in a business, and sometimes we need a specific supplier, or we need an ally, or a partner, who, say, is going to pay us because that is not what we have, because sometimes it is also who is trustworthy, how can I connect with him, then, in Talento what we do, and what we do we always invite all professionals and entrepreneurs, it is that you upload your profile, introduce yourself, and put, with this visibility, your specialty or your project, so that others can also see it, and when we are looking for we can link up”.

With this, they seek that there is a flow for companies, educational institutions or even the government itself to find what it is looking for and the links exist.

The last factor is that of Infrastructure, or Ecosystem, which seeks to inform what is available. “How many accelerators, incubators, funds, where they are, what specialty they have, what users it reaches, everything that we somehow also sometimes look for in a specific region (...), we think it is a very valuable portal because we combine everything that is happening and keep it updated on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, science and technology”. These factors include the Connect part.

Martín Galindo explains that the project is at a stage in which, in addition, they will soon have an X-ray of the startups, with information on what they do, who is their CEO, who makes up the team, whether they have raised capital and how much, etc.

The third and final component is PlaI Innovar. “There, what we developed was the first virtual acceleration and incubation program in the state, that is, we developed content of great value for each of the stages, put them on the platform, make a diagnosis, identify where your business is at that moment, we generate a learning path for you and, well, you're going advancing virtually but with accompaniment, the added value we give it is that, this is not the black thread either, there is a lot to learn, there are many courses you can take online, but many times you take them and you are left with doubts, or you take them and you don't have anyone to bounce ideas with, or suddenly, who will lie to you, the difference at PLAi Innovar is that in addition to the fact that you are taking it virtually, you will always be able to count on advice, with a resolution of doubts, and of course, also on specialized mentoring or consulting so that one by one will help you grow in your business models”.

Martín Galindo mentions that they have more and more users and content, and what is sought is to make it available to the general public.

The idea of creating this platform was born after identifying the needs that existed in the state of Jalisco, because although it is an entity that pushes a lot for innovation and entrepreneurship, and above all on a scientific-technological basis, there are always large areas of opportunity, because there was a lack of links, there were very many actors important in the ecosystem, but it existed that many did not identify them. “There is a lack of talent in specialized topics that are suddenly being required by our own dynamism, so we also have to pay as, not being as rigid as a university often has to be, because its curricula cannot be moved overnight, we can do it through the platform and how can we give these contents that are suddenly being badly needed in certain sectors, and then we help to improve competitiveness in every way”.

It was by identifying these areas of opportunity that, in 2019, the project was developed. In addition, the project impacts about 25,000 people a year on different issues.

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