Guest blog by Torres Luis Oliver
Being part of this course was not only an academic experience, it was also a professional experience of great impact for the development of my skills as a professional in territorial development.
In this sense, having spent ten weeks learning new methodologies and mechanisms to measure economic development and growth as well as the identification of problems in the territory, allowed me to develop capacities and skills to apply them in my work responsibility.
It was not only the knowledge that I was able to acquire through the conferences, papers and recommendations made by the teachers, but also the knowledge and experiences that other peers do in their cities and countries, this experience of collaboration with other students of the course. It has been fundamental to generate contacts around the world.
The knowledge acquired in this course not only allowed me to focus my analysis on the real problems that the growth of Chihuahua has, but also, to know mechanisms to identify growth opportunities that I had not located in the local context. Within my responsibility, in the Chihuahua Central Regional Economic Development Council, is the identification of public policy proposals to improve the competitiveness of the territory, and the knowledge acquired allowed me to put more emphasis on the analysis and diagnosis of the causes that generate low income. growth and development of Chihuahua.
Both the contributions of Prof. Hausmann and Prof. Andrews were invaluable complements, these two perspectives of the approach to competitiveness and public policies are mechanisms that I will undoubtedly apply in my work from now on,
From the approach to competitiveness based on the analysis of the export portfolio and the maps of economic complexity, to the identification of the PDIA through the tools provided.
Something also interesting is how the course forces us to think about a redesign of our organizations to achieve greater success in the economic growth of our territory; This way of persuading and reorganizing institutions is undoubtedly one of the main contributions that I could find in the course, since connecting the objectives you intend to achieve with the type of organization, we have is essential to achieve greater success in the implementation of solutions.
An interesting approach was also how the involvement of key actors is necessary to achieve the success of the challenge posed, on many occasions we take for granted that institutions must execute programs and projects; however, it is people and their influence that allow progress in the iterative process of development.
Without a doubt, having participated in this course has allowed me to increase my skills to perform my job better, it was an extraordinary opportunity to meet and learn from other people and from other parts of the world through the practical cases that we analyzed.
Some key points:
The course allows you to increase your ability to analyze local development.
- It allows you to connect problems and causes in order to solve growth and development challenges.
- It helps you generate tools to strengthen or build institutions.
- It allows you to improve your level of connection with key people in the territory.
- I really enjoyed it.
This is a blog series written by the alumni of the Leading Economic Growth Executive Education Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. 65 Participants successfully completed this 10-week online course in May 2021. These are their learning journey stories.
To learn more about Leading Economic Growth (LEG) watch the faculty video, and visit the course website.