Digital resilience and perseverance in the Borderplex

I'm thrilled to see TechSpark's expansion and how communities like El Paso can thrive in the digital economy!

You can learn more about TechSpark Fellows in an article by Kate Behncken, CVP of Microsoft Philanthropies, today on the Microsoft on the Issues blog.

As a life-long El Pasoan, it has always felt like El Paso was one of the best kept global secrets out there. Sunny and warm weather, great cost of living, a bilingual, bicultural, binational workforce, a vibrant history, a growing economy, great outdoor recreational opportunities, top tier education institutions, and the most welcoming people in the world all make this a great place to live, work, and play. But at times, it felt like my community wasn’t realizing the promise it had before it.

I saw lots of my family and friends who loved their hometown and would love to be close to their families need to move away to find opportunities that would pay the market value for their skills. I saw over $100 billion in trade between the United States and Mexico moving through our international ports, but local supply-chain integration was lagging what would be expected of a region our size. I saw a growing digital divide that was creating widening homework gaps, digital skills gaps, and healthcare gaps in some of the most vulnerable communities in the country.

It seemed like my community was falling behind in a world that was accelerating due to rapid technological advancement.

How can a community with all of the ingredients to be an important global cosmopolitan community catch up to the 21st century economy?

These problems sets weren’t only found in El Paso, but in communities all over the country. That is why Microsoft TechSpark was launched. Its mission is to support economic growth and innovation in underestimated communities across the United States by partnering deeply with local organizations, businesses, and individuals to provide resources, support, and training in areas such as technology, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. The program’s mission is to help bridge the digital divide and ensure that all communities, regardless of their location or economic status, have access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed in today's rapidly changing technological landscape.

The Borderplex region, consisting of El Paso, Texas, Juarez, Mexico, and Southern New Mexico is a cultural melting pot in the heart of the Chihuahuan desert. Inhabitants of the desert need to be resilient because they live in an environment that can be extremely challenging and inhospitable. The desert is characterized by extreme temperatures, limited resources, and sparse vegetation, which can make survival and sustainable living difficult. To make in the desert, plants, animals, and people must be adaptive and innovative to survive. 

Modern living has helped remove many challenges of scarcity that shaped this region. But the resiliency and innovation that have been necessary for people to thrive here historically are still instilled in the people of the Borderplex today. Like many communities across the country, changes in economic forces, shifts in demographics, and political pressures have created new demands for our community to adapt and overcome.

Our community has always been resilient because we’ve always had to be. But to meet the demands of today and tomorrow, we needed to move beyond resilience alone and towards perseverance.

Resiliency refers to the ability to bounce back from adversity and to withstand and recover from stress and trauma. Resilient communities are able to adapt to change and challenges, and to maintain their sense of well-being and positivity even in the face of difficulties.

Perseverance, on the other hand, refers to persistence and determination in the face of obstacles and difficulties. Perseverance is about continuing to work towards a goal or objective, even when it is difficult or challenging. It involves maintaining focus, determination, and motivation, even in the face of setbacks.

In a sense, resiliency and perseverance are complementary. A resilient community who has the ability to bounce back from adversity is more likely to persevere in the face of difficulties, while a persevering community who keeps working towards their goals, is more likely to build resilience over time. Together, these two qualities can help individuals and communities to thrive in the face of adversity.

TechSpark’s mission in El Paso over the past five years has been to create digital resilience and perseverance in the Borderplex.

Digital perseverance refers to the persistence and determination to succeed in the digital world, despite challenges and difficulties. It involves the ability to continuously learn and adapt to new technology, to overcome digital barriers and obstacles, and to persist in using digital tools and technology to achieve personal and professional goals.

In the 21st century, digital literacy and the ability to effectively use technology have become essential skills for success in many aspects of life. Digital perseverance involves not only acquiring these skills, but also the determination to continuously improve and stay up-to-date with new technology.

For individuals, digital perseverance can help them to thrive in the digital world and to achieve their goals. For organizations and communities, digital perseverance can help to ensure they are equipped to compete and succeed in the digital age.

Making El Paso compute

Careers in computing offer some of the highest paying jobs in the labor market and are found across all sectors and industries. Beyond the desirable technical skills computer science education imparts, the critical logic and problem solving skills acquired by individuals through CS education make them an asset to any organization in any field.

Schools in Region 19 were lagging the state average with the number of high schools offering a Computer Science (CS) class with less than a third of schools with at least one computing class.

Today, El Paso County schools exceeds the state averages with nearly two-thirds of its high schools offering a CS class. This was achieved through a collective impact approach to align the computer science ecosystem.

Microsoft’s TEALS program, locally spearheaded by Gustavo Arriaga and Carlota Álvarez, started in El Paso with 4 high schools in the region in the 18/19 school year, today it's in 39 schools and with over 100 computer science sections. TEALS brings industry volunteers into the classroom to team-teach computer science to high school students.

The rapid expansion of TEALS high schools in the region has also mirrored the explosion of computing talent graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Over the past 6 years, the Computer Science department at the UTEP went from 400 students to 1,400.

This rapid growth and long-term sustainability of these efforts has been made possible by engaging important higher education partners like UTEP and El Paso Community College (EPCC). Leadership from Dr. Ann Quiroz Gates, Dr. Elsa Villa, Dr. Clifton S. Tanabe, Dr. salamah salamah, Dr. Christian Servin have created a number of innovative programs to expand the number of pre-service and in-service opportunities to increase the number of CS certified educators in the region while also expanding cutting-edge learning opportunities and expertise in emerging fields . This started with pilot programs like the Microsoft Computer Science Teacher Academy and now endowed programs like The Hopper-Dean Foundation Center of Excellence for K-12 Computer Science Education.

This number is only expected to grow with a recent $5 million NSF Grant to support High-Potential Computer Science Students. This award includes scholarships to fund computing students from EPCC that transfer to UTEP.

Creating economic opportunity by empowering local businesses

People should be able to make a living in their hometown if they want to. Beyond addressing the skills supply of the equation, TechSpark has focused on partnering with organizations generating opportunities for skilled talent to land. Committed partners in the Borderplex have helped companies move closer to their customers with innovation and tech-enablement.

In June of 2019, Microsoft partnered with Technology HUB, a Juarez based business innovation center led by Ricardo Mora to launch The Bridge Accelerator as the TechSpark El Paso/Juarez signature project. The Bridge Accelerator is a highly specialized program in the Paso del Norte region focused on generating growth opportunities, business connections, and preparing companies to expand their participation in the $56 billion local manufacturing supply-chain market. The program aims to help small and medium sized companies through a 12-week intensive program culminating with a demo day pitch session to investors and purchasing directors from the largest manufactures in the region. Upon completion of the program, companies become members of the Binational Founders Network to continue to receive support and business opportunities through the program. 

To date, 78 companies have completed the program through 7 cohorts. The Bridge Accelerator has helped create over $61 million in new purchase orders, 504 jobs through business expansion, and over $4 million in equity investment opportunities for participating companies. 

COVID-19 forced many businesses to shift their delivery model to facilitate a “remote-everything” environment. Traditional small and medium sized businesses were not necessarily prepared to make this shift either from a lack of technology or through gaps in their workforce’s skillset. Microsoft partnered with Workforce Solutions Borderplex with Leila Melendez and Alma Aranda to launch the Digital Solutions program. This program created a team of digital transformation specialists provided no-cost technology consulting to small businesses. These digital transformation specialists helped over 300 businesses and trained over 1,200 employees in the capacities necessary to remain solvent during the current economic environment. This program was expanded and sustained additional $2,000,000 from local and state funders to the project.

The Digital Solutions program helped have an immediate and outsized impact on the businesses who participated. To date, over 300 companies have had engagements with the DTS team. 57.7% of all clients have come from the restaurant and retail industry. Participating businesses have experienced an average increase in reach to 32,000 additional users on social media (1,700% increase). This increase in social media visibility coupled with the adoption of streamlined digital tools led to new sales and new employment opportunities for companies during and post COVID-19 lockdowns. 

Driving digital access and adoption

The promise of the digital economy isn’t possible without basic digital literacy, access to devices, and affordable connectivity. TechSpark has always been grounded in supporting digital inclusion, but the years in lockdown and the accelerating change of technology created extreme urgency alongside the importance of promoting digital inclusion.

Recognizing that affordability was one of the largest barriers to digital inclusion, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rolled out the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB), now the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), to provide subsidies to qualifying households to support better outcomes for work, school, and healthcare. One of the biggest barriers to utilization of this program was reaching communities who had been disconnected before the pandemic started.

Microsoft partnered with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Dr. Jessica Chacon, Ph.D.’s EP-Heat Team with Andrea Tawney. We equipped their promotores network to provide basic digital literacy training to the residents in 79905 to better access social services that this population had been disconnected due to social distancing measures.

Beyond their important public health goals, the promotores also helped over 300 individuals complete LinkedIn Learning certifications by connecting residents to training sessions held on their campus every other Saturday. They distributed 200 devices to individuals who completed a digital literacy course, broadband orientation, and a LinkedIn Learning pathway. 

Thank goodness that our lives are largely back to normal after a few wild years, but just because we are back to “normal” doesn’t lessen the importance of closing the digital divide. The Borderplex community rallied together to help address community needs during COVID-19 through ad hoc calls and convening sent with community organizations. Leadership from the public and private sector El Paso Community Foundation, El Paso County, Paso Del Norte Community Foundation, CISCO Networks, UTEP, Borderplex Alliance, Dona Ana County, Marathon Petroleum and countless others realized that a formal organization was needed to sustain the region’s efforts. In December 2022, Borderplex Connect was launched to ensure that our region continues to champion digital equity by building an organization to develop data driven strategies and to continue to build technical expertise and sound governance models to support braided funding strategies.

The Borderplex has come a long way and has achieved much in building our digital resilience and digital perseverance, but our mission is far from complete. Nevertheless, we are proud of what we have accomplished. Microsoft has helped us go a little bit faster and a little bit further, but the heavy lifting and real progress have been driven by the people of West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Chihuahua. I’m eager to share our insights and experiences with others. Together, we can continue to make meaningful progress towards inclusive economic opportunity and driving positive impact in communities across America.

Learn how your community and organization can get involved here.

Through the TechSpark program, Microsoft partners with communities to understand their unique regional challenges and to explore solutions, programs, and partnerships that will be most effective at the local level.