Blog

The last couple of months have been challenging - physically, emotionally and mentally. Small moments of normalcy like celebrating Halloween are strange and welcome - at the same time.

Kudos to the Tampa Bay Innovation Center for its recent additions. Nine bay area tech startups are part of the Fall 2024 cohort

Orlando Health, the private non-profit that runs Bayfront Hospital, recently announced the latest addition to Innovation District: The Orlando Health Neuroscience Institute – Bayfront.

Ocean Exchange, a partner of the Innovation District, whose mission is to accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions for healthy oceans and the sustainable blue economy announced the winners of their annual prize competition. We were proud to be part of the voting jury for this important event.

Imagine a day when you jump in an electronic, autonomous air taxi in St. Pete and head to Tampa International Airport or even to Orlando. This concept is not as far off as you would imagine.

Saildrone and NOAA captured video from inside Hurricanes Helene and Milton from saildrone SD-1083.

A group of 40+ Tampa Bay business and nonprofit leaders, academics, and government representatives joined us on June 24th to discuss the NOAA Ocean-Ready Climate Resiliency Accelerator grant. Their guidance helped us to craft what we hope to be a winning proposal.

Our monthly newsletter is back!

Kudos to Collaborative Labs!

USF St. Petersburg welcomed around 770 students during its 2024 summer semester.

Imagine a day when you jump in an electronic, autonomous air taxi in St. Pete and head to Tampa International Airport or even to Orlando.

The Innovation District master planning project has begun!

The 2024 Small Business Survey has been launched with support from the JPMorgan Chase and Pinellas Community Foundation's Diverse Ventures program.

Creating meaningful opportunities for data/technology startups to develop novel solutions in areas such as hazard mitigation, water-based renewable energy, pollution.

GDX Development, Virtru, Saildrone and Lonestar Lunar updates.

Over the last few months I have used this space in the newsletter to create a picture of what it takes to foster innovation. November 2023 newsletter: Innovation is a team sport. It requires diverse perspectives and experiences to find a creative solutions. It requires courage to try things out and be willing to learn what won’t work as much as what will work. It requires tenacity to keep going and going and going.

Thank you to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JHACH) for sponsoring and hosting our inaugural Morning Sparks: Innovation X-change breakfast. The event was kicked off by Alicia Schulhof, President of JHACH, and followed by an overview of the topic - Artificial Intelligence - by Dr. John Licato of USF's Advanced Machine and Human Reasoning Lab.

Kudos to the Volunteers of America Florida, City of St. Petersburg, and Pinellas County for the recent opening of the new downtown apartments, located in the Innovation District called Innovare. Innovare’s 50 apartments provide stable homes for individuals and families who earn 60 percent or less of the Area’s Median Income (AMI), including many who are transitioning from homelessness.

Kudos to the Tampa Bay Innovation Center, a technology incubator, accelerator and coworking office operating the ARK Innovation Center in the Innovation District. They recently announced the startups that will participate in their spring accelerator program. These startups offer a variety of intriguing solutions, many based in the Tampa Bay region. Keep an eye out for a showcase featuring these companies in July.

The Dali Museum is once again leveraging innovative technology to engage the audience in a deeper understanding of Dali. A recent NPR profile highlighted: Ask Dalí, a new installation based on a copy of Dalí's iconic Lobster Telephone sculpture, allows visitors to pick up the crustacean-shaped receiver, ask a question, and hear Dalí's response. The artist's voice, speaking in heavily-accented English, is made possible through generative artificial intelligence. The artist's AI voice was trained on voice samples taken from archival interviews Dalí did in English over his career.

There are many quotes about innovation and how it is fostered. I have several hanging in my office. We recently looked to these as we were deciding the name for our new breakfast series. Our brainstorming kept coming back to the concept that ideas are the beginning - they create the "spark" that fuels innovation.

Congratulations to Sarah Gilbert, Chief Operating Officer of Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital for being named a 2024 BusinessWoman of the Year honoree. We are also thrilled that Sarah has recently joined the Board of Directors for the Innovation District.

The University of South Florida (USF) has announced its intention to create a college focused on the rapidly evolving fields of artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and computing, with the goal of positioning the Tampa Bay region and state of Florida as a national leader. USF is the first university in Florida and among the first in the nation to announce plans to create a college dedicated to AI and cybersecurity.

Even with an extra day in the month, I am running late with the February newsletter. Its been a busy and exciting time. Last Tuesday we announced a new project - Catching the Blue Wave: Accelerating America’s Ocean Economy.