The University of Arizona Center for Innovation had an economic output of $35.3 million in 2021, according to a new analysis of the center’s impact. Part of Tech Parks Arizona, the UArizona Center for Innovation, or UACI, is a business incubator network that empowers science and technology startups in Southern Arizona and around the world to bring their ideas to market.
Hear the name “Amazon” and you might just think of the trucks that bring what you want when you want it. But invisible to some is the cloud computing arm of the company that is hard at work to help deliver a better today and tomorrow for all Arizonans. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering more than 200 fully featured services from data centers around the world.
Redmond, Washington-based tech giant Microsoft Corp. has agreed to switch its cooling system for future data centers in Goodyear and invest more than $40 million to expand the city’s wastewater capacity through an updated development agreement that the city that was approved last week.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport started off 2023 and the Valley’s tourism season with more passengers than it has seen in recent years. In January, Sky Harbor recorded a total of 3,851,648 passengers going through its terminals, which was a 28.1% increase from January 2022 and it is just slightly higher – 13,331 passengers – from January 2020, according to data released by the Phoenix Aviation Department. The 3.85 million count appears to be the most passengers ever in Sky Harbor in the month of January.
Like most of the country, and the world, the IT and cybersecurity industries are among the fastest-growing in Arizona. There’s never been a better time to pursue a career in these fields, as there are tens of thousands of open jobs projected in Arizona through 2024 alone. That’s why the Arizona Technology Council has partnered with Pipeline AZ to create a valuable IT and cybersecurity resource center for job seekers.
Gov. Katie Hobbs has made her stance on water clear as numerous bills related to water use and development are progressing through the Arizona Legislature this session. Water was one of the main talking points for Valley Partnership’s Q&A with the governor on Friday morning, where President and CEO Cheryl Lombard and Hobbs discussed her stances on priorities like transportation, education and development.
The February 2023 episode of the Arizona Technology Council’s AZTechCast podcast featured experts including Ryan Hendrix, general manager of the ASU Cloud Innovation Center; Shelbe Hunsaker, southwest region public policy manager at Amazon Web Services; and Vic Narusis, executive vice president of business development at the Arizona Commerce Authority. These leaders joined Steve Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, and Karen Nowicki, president and owner of Phoenix Business RadioX, in discussing the collaborations between industry, government and education shaping Arizona’s future.
Four years ago, the biggest electric company in Arizona declared that solar energy plants paired with batteries were the cheapest way to power the state, marking a major departure from fossil fuels. Months later, the largest coal-fired power plant in the West, the Navajo Generating Station, shut down outside of Page, ending a 45-year run. Arizona Public Service Co. and Salt River Project appeared to dive headfirst into renewables at the expense of coal.
A majority of Arizona voters say they care about increasing access to natural spaces for lower-income populations and communities of color, a new bipartisan poll revealed. In the survey, 72% of respondents said ensuring marginalized communities are better connected to natural areas was important within the efforts of environmental conservation. Twenty-three percent said they viewed it as not very important or not important at all.
Phoenix officials believe Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was the busiest airport in the entire world the day after Super Bowl LVII. While the airport, its airlines and the U.S. Department of Transportation have not done a full accounting of that day, an initial report issued Thursday showed that more than 200,000 people traveled through Sky Harbor on Feb. 13, the day following Super Bowl LVII, which was played in Glendale at State Farm Stadium. Even though the specific numbers aren’t in yet, city officials said that this will mark the busiest single day in Sky Harbor’s history.