There’s a lot for which Southern Arizona is known. Ample sunshine, friendly communities, world-class education and training opportunities and an unbeatable quality of life, to name a few. Now, thanks to the hard work of entrepreneurs and innovators doing groundbreaking work right here, we can add another name to the list — emerging tech heavyweight.
The Arizona Technology Council, along with the Arizona Commerce Authority, celebrated the seventh annual Southern Arizona Tech + Business Expo on October 30th with over 80 exhibitors and 450+ attendees.
While the University of Arizona has long been a major economic engine for the Tucson area, it’s poised to help drive the local tech startup community like never before. That was evidenced by recent events like the Arizona Technology Council’s Southern Arizona Tech + Business Expo and the TenWest Impact Festival in mid-October.
Tucson serves as Arizona’s center for defense activity. The Tucson metropolitan area is where most of the state’s defense contract spending happens, as well as most of the spending for defense personnel, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. That makes Southern Arizona attractive for companies to secure a Tucson aerospace and defense lease or investment of commercial real estate.
For 16 years, University of Arizona’s technology business incubator, the Arizona Center for Innovation, has been responsible for helping to produce and promote more than 100 tech-focused startups at the UA Tech Park, propping up everything from aerospace to cybersecurity endeavors.
TechTalk enews provides member updates, featured news from annual sponsors and partners, industry news, segments from the Council’s blog, and profiles on technology professionals in Arizona.
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema sat down with founders of six Tucson startups to learn more about their businesses and the innovation ecosystem in Southern Arizona. This roundtable was part of a national celebration of Congressional Startup Day, an annual event that provides entrepreneurs the opportunity to connect with lawmakers and communicate policy related issues facing the startup community.
The days of when highways will be filled with autonomous trucks are years away. But UPS believes it’s worth jumping in at an early stage to take advantage of some of the automated driving, such as advanced braking technology that TuSimple can offer today.
An infrastructure innovation coming out of the research labs of Arizona-based QuakeWrap, Inc., and promising to help solve a major problem in city drinking water systems, has received federal funding from the research arm of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).
When it comes to technology talent, Tucson can’t yet compete with giants like San Francisco and Seattle. But Tucson recently got on the map- literally- as an up-andcoming,smaller North American market for top tech talent in a report issued by CBRE Research.