Technology & Life Sciences

A rapidly evolving leader in the global technology marketplace, Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County provides a stimulating environment for a wide range of communications, software, service and life sciences companies.

The region's assets include a readily available base of skilled knowledge workers, a warm climate for creative activities, convenient access to world markets, and a cooperative spirit that helps turn research discoveries into commercial products.

South Florida has deep roots in the technology sector, including the distinction of being the birthplace of IBM's PC in the early 1980s. Today, the technology landscape continues to attract global companies, along with successful "home-grown" businesses and innovative start-ups. Overall, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area is one of the nation's Top 100 Tech Centers as defined by bizjournals.com, with a recent ranking of 62.

In the life sciences, Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County is located at the center of this fast-growing regional industry cluster. The establishment of Scripps Florida in Jupiter, followed by Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, Oregon Health & Science University's Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, and the Max Planck Institute have focused world attention on South Florida. In Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County, Nova Southeastern University is expanding its research facilities and to the south, the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine is launching a Life Sciences Park to help anchor the region's vibrant life sciences sector.

Knowledge Workers
For technology and life science companies, Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County offers a rich labor pool supported by graduates and students of the many local colleges and universities offering field-related programs. Nearly one-third of all residents over 25 have earned at least a bachelor's degree, and more than 110,000 residents hold advanced degrees. Altogether, more than one-third of the workforce is employed in managerial, professional and technical positions, thus providing a considerable base of knowledge workers to meet ever-changing workforce needs. Looking at the region as a whole, South Florida's institutions of higher learning educate 100,000 students each year, serving the region's growing business community.

Cooperative Spirit
Established in 2007, the Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research helps facilitate the creation of spin-off companies from technology developed at Florida's publicly funded research institutions. To hasten the growth of commercially viable discoveries, the institute provides support including building relationships with seasoned entrepreneurs seeking new opportunities.

Another regional group, the South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA) promotes the growth, success and awareness of the South Florida technology community. In conjunction with partners like the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, iCoast and Gold Coast Venture Capital Association, SFTA helps connect companies, academia, capital resources and government to help ensure the immediate and future success of technology-related interests in South Florida.

Central Location
Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County is located in the heart of South Florida's technology community, providing manufacturers with easy access to Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, and highway and rail systems. Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County also enjoys a privileged position on the global telecommunications map, with convenient access to a major Internet network access point (NAP), fiber optic connections and high-speed data links to Latin America, Europe and the rest of the globe.

Innovation Capacity
Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County continues to demonstrate the innovation capacity necessary to support information technology and biotech startups, emerging sciences and cutting-edge research and development.  

Growing Wireless Cluster
As worldwide demand grows for "smart" handheld devices with powerful new applications, Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County is home to a growing cluster of wireless technology companies serving consumer, business and governmental customers. Key players include: 

• Motorola, whose Plantation facility developed an advanced two-way portable radio for use by police, fire rescue and other first responders. The group is part of Motorola's growing Enterprise Mobility Solutions division. 
• Research in Motion, a worldwide designer and manufacturer of wireless communications devices and services, including the famous BlackBerry family, has a major facility in Sunrise. 
• FoxConn, which manufactures wireless communication, computer and consumer electronics products in its Sunrise facility. 
• General Dynamics C4 Systems, whose Sunrise facility makes wireless communications and mobility information systems for military, homeland security and business customers.

Information Technology

Fort Lauderdale-based Citrix Systems is a global leader in access infrastructure, serving more than 215,000 organizations around the world. London-based Frost & Sullivan, a research and consulting firm, recently named Citrix Online, a Citrix division, as the 2008 Web Conferencing Company of the Year for its market-leading services and successful market penetration. The company delivers simple, affordable software-as-a-service solutions for remote PC access and online collaboration. 

Also in Fort Lauderdale, Peak 10 (formerly 1Vault Networks) provides dedicated servers, remote data center and co-location, and web hosting services. The data center is located in one of the largest hurricane-proof commercial sites in South Florida with multiple backup generators, redundant battery power, state-of-the-art air conditioning and fire suppression systems.

Other leading Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County IT companies include Cbeyond, Inc., an IP-based managed services provider to small businesses, which opened its new South Florida regional headquarters in Miramar in 2008, and Blue Frog Solutions in Pompano Beach, a leading provider of middleware solutions for life insurance carriers, underwriters and their distributors and agents. DataBridge Corp. in Oakland Park is a computer engineering consultancy that develops turnkey computing solutions for its clients.

In the online sector, Saveology.com is a national consumer comparison-shopping provider, while eDiets.com, Inc., is a leading provider of convenient at-home diet, fitness and healthy lifestyle solutions. ReStockIt.com in Hollywood is an online retailer of restaurant, janitorial and office supplies.

Today, Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County's IT/telecom companies employ more than 50,000 people, according to recent surveys by iCoast, a regional initiative dedicated to cultivating South Florida as a global science and technology hub and leading region for business entrepreneurship and investment.

Life Sciences

Leading life sciences companies find that Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County offers a conducive environment for research, development and commercial success. For example, Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. opened a new facility in Weston in late 2009 with engineering, information technology and purchasing services. Another recent arrival is bioRASI, a strategic initiative of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) that is responsible for commercializing RAS biosciences and clinical resources by creating collaborative R&D relations around the world. bioRASI selected Hollywood for its new worldwide headquarters.

Another growing life sciences company is Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc., a fully integrated contract manufacturing organization (CMO) of monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins for preclinical and Phase I/II/III clinical trials. Plantation-based GBI has worked with companies of all sizes, from small university spin-offs to major research institutes, government agencies and large established biopharmaceutical companies.

Massachusetts General Hospital recently licensed technology that will help treat HIV and hepatitis C to Altor BioScience Corp., a privately held company in Miramar. Altor said there is a need for new drugs because patients with HIV and AIDS continue to develop drug resistance despite the availability of more than 40 approved antiretroviral drugs.

Life sciences companies have flourished in Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County for decades, including many start-ups that have grown to become successful businesses. One example is Sunrise-based Bioheart, Inc., which has developed an innovative approach to repairing damaged heart muscle by using the body's own cells.

Supporting the life sciences sector, Nova Southeastern University is constructing a new Center for Collaborative Research. This will be one of Florida's largest wet research laboratories, providing R&D opportunities for the region's bioscience companies.

Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County can also boast about being selected as a United States Geological Survey Center, a world-class scientific center of excellence for environmental science, education and technology, in association with the $8.5 billion Everglades Restoration Project. Such centers fuel expansion in science and technology and help attract critical venture capital to the area. 

Other important assets for life sciences companies include access to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's growing clinical research facilities, as well as world-class medical centers such as the Miami Cardiac and Vascular Research Center, the Miami Heart Institute, Cleveland Clinic of Florida and Jackson Memorial Hospital. 

Altogether, South Florida is home to more than 1,500 bioscience businesses and institutions that employ over 26,000 people and generate over $4 billion in sales, according to iCoast surveys.

With leading global scientific institutes establishing new facilities in the South Florida region, the State of Florida was named a "Top 5 Region for Biotech" in 2008 by the industry's daily monitor, Fierce Biotech. This is Florida's second consecutive year at the top of this ranking of regions supportive of biotech development.