Tag: WTCSD Q3 2020

COVID-19 and its impacts to San Diego Air Travel

By Itzel Moncada,

While so much is still unknown about the future of travel in a post-COVID world, World Trade Center San Diego (WTC) is working with San Diego International Airport (SAN) to understand how to build back an economy that is even stronger and more resilient. The connectivity provided by the airport will continue to be a vital aspect of our region and WTC remains committed to working alongside the airport and the San Diego Tourism Authority through this recovery.

WTC, San Diego Tourism Authority, and San Diego International Airport are spearheading a COVID-19 economic recovery strategy that focuses on flight retention and expansion.  As a result of the pandemic, the economic climate surrounding air travel has been unprecedentedly impacted, and SAN has felt those negative impacts. Since the beginning of the stay-at-home orders in March 2020, COVID-19 has resulted in a cumulative loss of over $396 billion for the U.S. travel economy.

As a key partner to SAN, WTC works to improve regional competitiveness and bring flights back to San Diego in a post-COVID world with a focus on business travel and economic activity.

“The shutdown has caused unprecedented disruptions to trade and travel, but we know access to global markets is an essential part of our regional recovery. Nonstop international service is correlated with an average 20 percent increase in investment flows between destinations, which is why retaining global service out of SAN—and being intentional about how we fly—should be one of our region’s highest economic development priorities,” said Nikia Clarke, Executive Director, WTC San Diego.

In support of SAN’s efforts, WTC has launched a corporate travel survey and conducted interviews with local business leaders to make sure SAN is aligned with the business community needs in their comprehensive recovery strategy.

Key takeaways from WTC’s Corporate Travel Survey:

  • 52% of companies have not cut travel budgets for 2021
  • 64% anticipated increased support in local businesses and economy
  • 76% of companies expect for Domestic U.S. travel to resume within the next 6 months
  • 3% of companies expect for international travel to Europe to resume within the next 6 months

#flylocal

San Diego International Airport’s regional economic impact is vital for the economic and employment recovery efforts of the region. In 2017, SAN’s annual economic impact was valued at $11.8 billion-total amount that circulates back to the regional economy. SAN has taken the safety of travelers as a core pillar in its reopening efforts, assuring safety and tranquility for San Diegans to #flylocal and help economic recovery at home.

ABOUT WORLD TRADE CENTER SAN DIEGO

World Trade Center San Diego operates as an affiliate of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation. WTC San Diego works to further San Diego’s global competitiveness by building an export pipeline, attracting and retaining foreign investment, and increasing San Diego’s global profile abroad.

Do you want to know more about the work of World Trade Center San Diego? Click here to receive our monthly Global Brief Newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

San Diego’s Growing Digital Global Footprint

By Itzel Moncada,

The technology that will power a post-COVID world is being invented and perfected in our backyard.  San Diego’s leading tech, defense, and life science companies are making large investments to prepare for a world that will be increasingly digital, connected, and autonomous. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science are transforming nearly every industry, giving rise to important discussions concerning jobs, ethics, and privacy.

Against the backdrop of rising protectionism and an escalating US-China conflict, the evolution of a global policy regime governing the development and deployment of strategic technology will have massive implications for both national security as well as US competitiveness.

Through the Global Competitiveness Council (GCC), San Diego leaders came together to discuss these key issues along with companies who are at the forefront of every disruptive trend reshaping the world today.

San Diego companies to keep an eye on:

LunaDNA

Our region is known around the world for its unparalleled life sciences companies and LunaDNA is an exceptional example data science and AI in health sciences. LunaDNA, founded by Luna Public Benefit Corporation (LunaPBC) is a community-owned platform for health research. Anyone can join, share their health data, and receive ownership shares in the company. When researchers conduct studies on the data on the LunaDNA secure platform, the proceeds are passed back to the community as dividends.

ServiceNow

ServiceNow believes in the power of technology to reduce the complexity in our jobs and make work, work better for people. The company transforms old, manual ways of working into modern digital workflows. Employees and customers get what they need, when they need it-exactly what every company needs in light of COVID-19.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI)

San Diego-headquartered General Atomics-ASI specializes in research and technology development, providing remotely operated surveillance aircraft. GA-ASI’s innovations and high-tech solutions have produced a growing line of versatile, reliable, cost-effective, and proven Remotely Piloted Aircraft.

Booz Allen Hamilton

Consulting firm, Booz-Allen, brings bold thinking and a desire to be the best in its work on consulting, analytics, digital solutions, engineering, and cyber, and with industries ranging from defense to health to energy to international development.

Brain Corp

Brain Corp provides autonomous solutions that enable OEMs and Robotics Startups to turn their manually driven products into intelligent machines. The company is now focused on developing advanced machine learning and computer vision systems for the next generation of self-driving robots.

ABOUT WORLD TRADE CENTER SAN DIEGO

World Trade Center San Diego operates as an affiliate of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation. WTC San Diego works to further San Diego’s global competitiveness by building an export pipeline, attracting and retaining foreign investment, and increasing San Diego’s global profile abroad.

Do you want to know more about the work of World Trade Center San Diego? Click here to receive our monthly Global Brief Newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.

MetroConnect V – Workshop Recap Q3

By Lucas Coleman,

In Q3, World Trade Center San Diego (WTC) continued to support the 15 companies in its MetroConnect international sales accelerator program. As part of the year-long export education curriculum, WTC hosted two workshops with subject matter experts on the topics of International Marketing & Sales and GDPR & Data Privacy.

MetroConnect Workshop #4 – International Marketing & Sales

Hosted in partnership with Reid Carr (CEO of Red Door Interactive), Judy Webster (Director of Global Partner Marketing at Qualcomm), and Josh Halpern (Chief Strategy Officer at California International Trade Center).

A few things we learned:

  • Branding overseas starts with building a strong, authentic brand at home.
  • Be mindful of language considerations, even within different regions in the same country. Sometimes you may want to opt for visual representations over words. If you do need a professional, industry-specific language translation tool, check out SYSTRAN Translate Pro.
  • Understand which analytical tools you need (and can afford) to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns.
  • Optimize your website to accommodate international customers. COVID-19 has only accelerated the unstoppable shift towards online shopping. Maximize your export opportunities through website localization and optimization.

MetroConnect Workshop #5 – GDPR & Data Privacy

Hosted in partnership with Elaine Harwell (Senior Counsel at Procopio) and Hannah Bracken (Commercial Specialist (Digital Policy) for the US Mission to the EU).

A few things we learned:

  • Unlike in the European Union, the US does not have a single omnibus bill addressing data privacy. Instead, we have a patchwork of state and federal statutes, some sector-specific and others focused on the rights of consumers.
  • The European Court of Justice’s recent ruling in Schrems II invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework, which many American companies have been using as a mechanism for transferring personal data from the EU to the US. (What happens now?)
  • California has a data privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), however this may soon be replaced by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which is on the ballot this November. Remember to vote!
  • If you are interested in learning more about GDPR and data privacy, our team will be recording a live webinar with Elaine Harwell (Procopio) on Thursday, October 29. Please reach out to Lucas Coleman at LC@sandiegobusiness.org and we will include you in our mailing list.