Ms. Gómez is a Ph.D. candidate in economic geography at Turku School of Economics. In her doctoral dissertation, she analyses global trends in foreign direct investments (FDI) targeting the global South and possibilities for technological advancement through FDI in Medellín, Colombia. Her Medellín case study focuses on the planning process of a recently established innovation district as well as the potential of foreign IT investments to generate local technological capabilities. Her earlier professional experience includes work in architectural and development cooperation projects in Latin America, Africa, and East Europe.

Her research examines the factors, at country and urban scales, promoting the competitive advantage of foreign firms, explaining the emergence of some cities as important nodes for foreign investments, and the role of these investments in the technological catch-up taking place in the global South. At the local scale, the research takes place in the context of an emerging investment hub in Medellín, Colombia. There, the study focuses on investments in information technologies (IT) and their role in advancing local technological capabilities and economic development.

Ms. Gómez has been involved in the research projects:

• Innovation Districts in Emerging and Advanced Economies for Sustainable urban development (IDeaS)
  • Turun tiedepuisto luovien kohtaamisten laboratoriona ja vuorovaikutteisen kaupunkikulttuurin kehittäjänä (ArtWorks) [Turku Science Park as a laboratory for creative encounters and a developer of interactive urban culture]