Modern-day Mexico has been inhabited by human beings for 20,000 years or more, but it's the past 177 years since the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between the Second Republic of Mexico and the United States of America that matters most today. The document established today's borders between the two countries, serves as the ever-present backdrop for the difficult relations between them, and remains a point of serious contention in Mexico.

It is thus difficult to consider Mexico on its own merits. The US-Mexico border is the world's longest frontier between a developed and emerging nation – average income in the US is more than five times that of Mexico, internet access is 25 percent higher, mobile access is 37 percent higher, and the US data center footprint is more than 100 times that of its southern neighbor.

Mexico has not scored well in the IDCA Digital Readiness Index of Nations, with sub-par digital infrastructure, a continued dependence on a fossil-fueled economy, and major ongoing social and governance challenges. It scores below the world average overall, and is in a virtual tie with Guatemala at the bottom of overall rankings in Latin America. (Brazil and Colombia are the regional leaders.)

The new administration of Claudia Sheinbaum seems on course to follow her successor's policies, including the use of the nation's oil resources rather than renewable energy to build domestic prosperity. To be fair, Mexico's current renewable grid, at around 21 percent, is comparable to that of the US, and the country generates about 5 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy.

Mexico's bond rating sits at the lowest tier of the investment grades, but again to be fair, is the second-highest in Latin America (along with Uruguay) and trails only that of Chile.

Mexico's population is now approaching 130 million, keeping it at 10th place among the world's nations, with a nominal GDP of $1.8 trillion that makes it the world's 15th-largest and places it securely within the world's G20 nations. Such a sizable nation should offer sizable opportunities.

There's been recent hope in a spate of new data center projects in Querétaro and other areas north of Mexico City. Despite the capital’s great population of more than 20 million people, there are several significant regional cities spread across Mexico's more than 750,000 square miles to warrant digital infrastructure interest and development. But, anticipating what might expected to be a further deterioration in relations with the US, questions must arise as to whether and how Mexico can start to achieve some momentum in reaching its potential to build its own Digital Economy.