Between 1985 and 1987, I studied for a Master in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
I arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at a time of enormous transformation.
The world was still shaped by the Cold War, Ronald Reagan was President of the United States, Mexico was emerging from a profound economic crisis, and Latin America was trying to consolidate its democracies.
In the classrooms of HKS, I learned an idea that has accompanied me throughout my public and professional life:
Governing is not about managing reality as it comes; governing is about building the capacity to change it.
For that reason, one month ago I read with great interest the publication “HKS 2036: Leadership for a New Era.”
I did not read it only as an alumnus.
I read it as a Mexican.
As someone who believes that public service remains one of the noblest responsibilities of any society.
And as someone convinced that Mexico urgently needs a serious vision toward 2036.
The central idea of the document is powerful:
The way we govern no longer corresponds to the way we live.
That sentence should be discussed in Mexico every single day.
We live in digital societies, yet we have analog governments.
We live with artificial intelligence, yet we maintain slow bureaucracies.
We live in integrated economies, yet with fragmented institutions.
We live in a world of global risks, yet with public institutions whose local capacities are often weak.
We live in an era of uncertainty, yet we continue preparing public servants for a world that no longer exists.
HKS 2036 proposes three major directions:
- Strengthen its academic foundation.
- Respond to four imperatives of the future.
- Activate a global community of more than 80,000 alumni, students, faculty members, public officials, and partners.
Its four imperatives are clear:
- Open pathways into public service for everyone.
- Help governments deliver better results.
- Harness technology for the public good.
- Develop ethical and effective leaders for times of polarization.
I fully share that vision, but I believe Mexico should read it not as a university strategy, but as a national challenge.
What kind of country do we want to be in 2036?
Ten years may seem like a long time. They are not.
They represent only two presidential terms and two generations of university students.
It is a brief window to rebuild institutional capacity, restore trust, and prepare the country for an economy transformed by artificial intelligence, the energy transition, productive relocation, climate change, insecurity, migration, and geopolitical tensions.
My vision for Mexico in 2036 begins with one conviction:
We must restore the dignity of public service.
The country will not move forward through good speeches or six-year improvisations alone.
It needs well-prepared, ethical, competent women and men with integrity and a commitment to delivering results.
Mexico must educate a new generation of public servants who understand data, budgeting, technology, security, energy, education, healthcare, diplomacy, regional development, and consensus-building.
Public service cannot continue to be a refuge for the unprepared or a reward for partisan loyalty.
It must once again become an honorable career.
In 2036, I want to see a Mexico where the country’s brightest young people aspire to serve their nation.
Where a mayor has the professional tools needed to govern.
Where a state cabinet secretary knows how to implement public policies.
Where a federal official is evaluated by results rather than obedience.
Where merit once again matters.
The second major transformation must be an obsession with delivering results.
For decades, we have confused governing with announcing programs.
But governing is not about making announcements.
Governing is making things work.
Making sure hospitals have medicine.
Making sure schools actually educate.
Making sure the police protect citizens.
Making sure administrative procedures are completed.
Making sure permits do not depend on bribes.
Making sure roads are built.
Making sure water reaches people’s homes.
Making sure there is sufficient electricity.
Making sure citizens do not have to beg in order to exercise their rights.
Mexico 2036 should be the country that left behind the culture of excuses and built a culture of execution.
To achieve that, we need governments with genuine institutional capacity:
Strong information systems, measurable budgets, transparent public procurement, well-trained public officials, coordinated institutions, and effective accountability mechanisms.
Public policy does not end when a PowerPoint presentation is delivered or when a decree is published in the Official Gazette.
It begins when it reaches people’s daily lives.
The third imperative is technology for the public good.
This will be the great dividing line between the countries that move forward and those that fall behind.
Artificial intelligence, data, automation, and cybersecurity are not merely issues for specialists.
They are the new nervous system of government.
By 2036, Mexico should have interoperable electronic medical records, personalized education supported by technology, digital platforms for permits and government procedures, intelligence-based public security systems, open public procurement systems, real-time infrastructure monitoring, early warning systems for natural disasters, and citizen services designed around the user experience.
But technology should not be used to monitor citizens or concentrate power.
It should be used to expand rights, reduce corruption, improve decision-making, and bring the State closer to its people.
A digital government without ethics can become authoritarian.
A digital government guided by values can become profoundly democratic.
Javier Treviño is Vice President of Walmart for Mexico and Central America. He previously served as Executive Director of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) and is the Founder and President of the consulting firm Javier Treviño y Asociados.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from El Colegio de México and a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Within the Federal Government, he served as Undersecretary of Basic Education; Undersecretary for Educational Policy Planning and Evaluation; Chief Administrative Officer of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit; Undersecretary for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Minister for Information and Spokesperson at the Embassy of Mexico in the United States during the negotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Javier Treviño also served as an advisor to Luis Donaldo Colosio while he was Secretary of Social Development, Secretary General of the Government of Nuevo León, and Federal Deputy representing Nuevo León.
In the private sector, he served as Senior Vice President for Communications and Corporate Affairs at CEMEX.
He was a founding member and Vice President of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations. He is a member of the Board of the El Colegio de México Foundation, a founding member of the Advisory Board of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and a member of the Board of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego.
He has also served on the boards of the Foundation for the Americas of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the North American Center at Arizona State University.
Source: detona
