Amy Beaird has a duty to build community in Central Florida’s technology sector. So she said she expects MetaCenter Global Week in mid-October to be a catalyst for just that.
“We are bringing together and showcasing what is in the region,” said Beaird, Florida High Tech Corridor’s chief strategy officer. “There is an emphasis and energy to really engage corporate companies more with startups. We are starting to see momentum and I hope we see more of that.”
To foster an environment where that happens, she said, means to get all tech sectors to push toward the same goal.
“Growth comes from cross-cluster collaboration,” she said. “So many companies and industries have their own way of working and developing innovative solutions but then you apply innovation from energy, modeling and simulation or start applying VR tech into life sciences, that’s where a lot of really rapid innovation and creativity can come out.”
Beaird is just the latest community leader to share their thoughts about how MetaCenter Global Week will benefit the city of Orlando.
As the event approaches quickly – it kicks off on Oct. 17 – we thought we’d round up all of the comments we have heard in the leadup to the week.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer:
“We have a thriving tech ecosystem here with both big companies and small ones but I don’t know that the world is necessarily aware of it.”
“It gives our companies and entities the opportunity to meet with people they might eventually collaborate with, perhaps. It lets the outside world know about the educational and various industries and how well we have parlayed our industry clusters.”
Blue Wave Resource Partners, CEO and Innovate Orlando board member Charlie Lewis:
“It’s bringing in an element of global attention to our city. But to do that, you need buy-in from the city and county so we can execute and show the highlights as they want them to be shown.”
Simone Babb, chief innovation and emerging technologies officer, Orange County
“I value the synergistic energy and passion in our community around technology. Together, we can shape the direction and footprint toward being a recognized and respected tech and innovation hub.”
Orlando entrepreneur Angela Alban, CEO, Simetri
“We have continued to evolve and that growth justified revising our message. That eventually improved our ability to attract talent and notoriety across the globe as a high-tech region.”
“We’ve made it. We are delivering on what was promised.”
Tim Hill, director of Central Florida operations, Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation
“This notion of coalescing all of these factions is a really big thing. When you start to get a central branding campaign, that’s a big deal.”
Kris Kolo, global executive director, VRAR Association
“Our members from Orlando deserve this. Orlando has already proven itself to be the metacenter for spatial computing and the opening of the Metacenter, and this event will showcase Orlando and Central Florida talent and innovations to the world.”
“INNOVATE ORLANDO PROVIDES CONTEXT TO CITY’S TECH NARRATIVE”
“INNOVATE ORLANDO’S TENX TECH ADDS ‘BIG BUMP’ TO ATTENDEES’ REACH”
“CEO: METACENTER GLOBAL WEEK A SIGN ‘WE’VE MADE IT’”
“MGW NEEDED – AND RECEIVED – CITY, COUNTY BUY IN”
“DYER: MGW A SHOWCASE OF ORLANDO TO THE WORLD”
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