As a community-engaged bank, the SF Fed seeks out real-time information on economic conditions by engaging with and learning from businesses, community organizations, and local leaders. These conversations are one of the many inputs into the decisions and monetary policymaking at the Federal Reserve as we pursue our mission.
Here is a recap of what we learned about how technology is used by different industries through a recent engagement with two San Diego organizations with Chi Elder, Regional Engagement Officer – Southern California of the SF Fed’s Los Angeles Branch.
To learn more about how technology impacts the regional economy and landscape, I invited my Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (SF Fed) colleagues, Mike Fernandez and Qiana Charles, to my hometown – San Diego. As a Regional Engagement Officer for Southern California, I have the responsibility and privilege of connecting and engaging with business and community leaders to gather insights about local economic conditions. The insights are an important component in informing monetary policy.
San Diego, often referred to as the “birthplace of California,” is the oldest city in the state. San Diego County is home to the busiest land port of entry in the Western hemisphere and home to nearly 3.3 million residents – making it the second most populous county in the state and fifth most populous in the country.
During the visit, we met with the San Diego Padres and Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography (ASML), large employers in the entertainment and advanced manufacturing industries, respectively.
The San Diego Padres joined the Major League Baseball in 1969 and calls Petco Park its home. We learned that in addition to baseball games, Petco Park hosts year-round events that helped to spur new residential, hotel, and retail development of the East Village Area and contributed to significant revenue generation for the San Diego region.
The Padres currently use conversational AI to generate sales leads. This has helped the organization to allocate its sales staff’s time in a more efficient and effective manner.
ASML is a multinational manufacturing company, headquartered in the Netherlands, that produces light sources for lithography machines, providing the world’s leading chipmakers with hardware, software and services to mass produce patterns on silicon (semiconductors).
ASML San Diego focuses on the research and development and manufacturing of deep ultraviolet (DUV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light sources for lithography systems, which are used to make microchips.
We learned about new applications and advances in technology including how the organizations use Artificial Intelligence (AI). These meetings provided vital insights on the economic impact of innovation in the region.
Thank you to our executive and senior leaders for visiting San Diego and reinforcing the importance of business and community engagement across the Twelfth District.
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The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the management of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.