Tijuana Innovadora, Mexico: Speakers incl. Pres. Felipe Calderon, Al Gore, Carlos Slim (and Xeni)

On Saturday, October 16, I'll be speaking at Tijuana Inovadora: a *really* ambitious conference under way in Mexico through October 21. Speakers include the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon; Mexican astronaut José Moreno Hernández; Al Gore; Carlos Slim (richest man in the world, owns a big chunk of the New York Times); Chris Anderson of Wired and DIY Drones fame; Jimmy Wales; Biz Stone; and many more.

The point of the conferenc is more or less that this place is a generative source of forward-thinking ideas in technology, culture, art, and design. Or, as the conference website blurbs, the mission is…

[T]o show the community, country, and strategic audiences abroad, the processes of innovative technology, education, technological culture, and art that are exported from Tijuana to the world.

Much of what we hear in the US about Mexico these days has to do with the narco-mess, but the border region has a long history of tech innovation. It's sad to see that lost in the noise of late; this event seeks to change that perception. Tijuana's an interesting place, I know from personal experience—and it should be a particularly interesting place while Tijuana Inovadora is under way. Tickets here, here's the website, Twitter and Facebook.