“Technology in Mexico is antagonistic,” said the 46-year-old entrepreneur, noting a minority of the population has access to the best tools available -- to others only to a certain extent. Our main problem is real and applicable knowledge,” Vazquez said. “It is in knowledge where we base our project.”
Vazquez, whose firm is based in the northwest state of Durango, is banking on the foundation structure and international acceptance of the signature CompTIA A+ teachings around which he’s built a statewide education offering for people new to IT.
Starting with residents of Durango’s economically-challenged region, Vazquez hopes to instill prospective students with various technology tools “to give them an opportunity to create new jobs in companies with whom we have alliances or export to other countries as well. We have a target to move more than 400 (IT) professionals around Mexico and in other countries,” he said.A veteran of more than two decades in software and hardware administration across the globe, Vazquez said most of the students passing through his program will be working with technology for the first time. “The value is enormous because they get exposure to tools, and that is invaluable,” he said.
Vazquez, whose firm is a CAPP-Delivery partner, said his ultimate goal is to use this training platform to help create quantifiable value in several companies through IT. Luckily, he has friends in high places who share his vision.
Since assuming office in 2010, Durango Governor C.P. Jorge Herrera Caldera has remained focused on industry and job creation as key cornerstones of his administrative goals. He has helped the region, which welcomed several large call centers a few years back, become a leader in solar integrations as home to the largest concentrated photovoltaic plant in Latin America. Governor Herrera has made sure his Ministry of Economy is available to support the emergence of such business incubators as the iGenera project and local entrepreneurs as Vazquez.
“The Governor plays an important role,” Vazquez said, noting it is his leader’s “belief that the best life expectancy of a professional is exposed in the workplace (and by) giving them the tools they need to achieve results.”
He said Herrera is helping to push through the iGenera initiative with government investments.Vazquez said he envisions a CompTIA Center of Expertise centered in the Durango Technology Cluster as a second phase of the project. In addition, he hopes to incorporate additional CompTIA certifications at local universities and colleges as part of the official education program going forward.
“CompTIA certifications represent a professional asset for people and we want to expand it nationally,” said Vazquez.
The IT industry continues to grow faster and faster and, Vazquez said, the only way to bring order to the wide array of services available is found in industry methodologies and certifications. And for that, he said, the results, timing and information favor CompTIA. “We want to work with CompTIA to prepare the vision of the next two years,” he said.
