Capitalizing on a strategic location: the flow of information across South Florida knows no geographic or political boundaries. As such, the industries which move it—telecom and IT—are regional by their very nature

South Florida CEO, June, 2004 by Richard Westlund

If there is one thing that definitely doesn't respect political boundaries, it is the flow of information. Even though most of the undersea fiber optic cables that make South Florida a strategic technology location come ashore in Boca Raton and Hollywood, for example, the Network Access Point of the Americas (NAP)--one of the key means of moving data onto those eables--is located in Miami.

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That is one reason why the InternetCoast was one of South Florida's first regional business organizations. It was formed in 1998, when a handful of budding South Florida information technology companies joined together in Boca Raton and began to promote the region as, well, the InternetCoast. The organization hoped to turn South Florida into a technology hub like Silicon Valley. "We look at places like Silicon Valley and Research Triangle Park [in North Carolina] ... and we recognize that it's not just one county or city, it's the entire region," says InternetCoast executive director Michael Corbit. "The InternetCoast has realized that in order to grow this region, we've got to do it collectively."

The growth hasn't been smooth. Back in 1998, it seemed like the timing was perfect to turn South Florida into an international science and technology hub. The region was buzzing with new Internet service providers (ISPs), Spanish-language Internet portals, application service providers (ASPs), and dozens of dot-com startups. New fiber optic cables offered businesses high-speed connections to Latin America, Africa and Europe. Companies like Miami's Terremark Worldwide (developer of the NAP), BellSouth and Spain's Telefonica made major investments in Internet hubs and data centers, while developers designed secure facilities specifically for telecommunications and online services.

Then came the big technology bust of 2000. Company after company closed its doors, the new cables carried only a fraction of their intended traffic, and telecomoriented real estate sat vacant.

Today, all those IT assets from the late 1990s are still in place, including Telefonica Data USA's Key Center and Terremark's NAP of the Americas, the first in Airport West and the latter in downtown Miami. And a newly energized InternetCoast is seeking to capitalize on South Florida's IT experience, physical assets and strategic location between Latin America and Western Europe to regrow the industry on a regional basis.

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"From an IT perspective, we've come a very long way," says Corbit. "We were certainly impacted by the bursting of the technology bubble, but I've seen a real upturn in the past year." Corbit says larger companies are hiring more IT professionals, a growing number of entrepreneurs are launching new companies, venture capitalists are looking at the region again, and the region's colleges and universities are assisting in turning academic research into commercial products.

On the academic side, the University of Miami, Nova Southeastern University, Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University have joined together to form the InternetCoast Metro Access Coalition (IMAC), a high-speed online network for the exchange of research information. "Hopefully, in the future, that research can be bought and shared by the private sector," says Corbit. "There is clearly more recognition of the importance of technology transfer."

Local executives hope to see more statewide collaboration to promote their businesses. "The NAP has become an important network access point for the industry and one of the most connected facilities in the world," says Terremark chairman and CEO Manuel D. Medina. "The State of Florida, together with the private sector, can rally to promote the uniqueness of this facility, its importance to the region and the business potential it represents for the industry."

Other work to strengthen the region's IT sector includes a $300,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recently awarded to InternetCoast. Corbit says the organization, which now has more than 5,000 affiliates, will use the funds to foster ideal conditions for technology growth in the region.

Other industry organizations, too, are working to do the same, and all of them are now regional in scope. The South Florida Technology Alliance, for instance, a business forum that fosters the growth of IT hardware, software and services firms through networking and business development sessions, was formed via the merger of several other groups. "We've moved from being several smaller groups with county-specific orientation over the last two years, and we are going to promote regionalism even more," says SFTA secretary Alan Penchansky, of the Coral Gables-based Pen Group. "We think that is the key that will enable us to be more successful--a broader base to draw on for support."

Public/private partnership Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida has been regional since its founding nearly a decade ago. EDC, which provides business development services to emerging science and technology companies throughout South Florida, will hold its seventh annual showcase of new companies in Fort Lauderdale this November. As always, says Jane Teague, EDC's executive director, "We are looking forward to an outstanding preview of some of the region's hottest technologies."