|
A Vibrant Innovation Ecosystem
People
- Over 450,000 talented people with above average income and education live in the zone.
- Highest concentration of graduate and undergraduate degrees in all of central Florida.
- 1 in 5 people employed in education or technology.
Ideas
- Orlando was named as one of the 10 best cities in America in which to start a new business by Entrepreneur Magazine in August 2009, specifically mentioning the mentoring available through the Disney Entrepreneur Center.
- The Innovation Zone is home to Full Sail University, one of the nation’s leaders in entertainment and media innovation. Full Sail graduates work on most of the major films that are released today, and have won many industry awards. Full Sail has put Orlando and the Innovation Zone squarely on a par with New York and Los Angeles, with more than 3000 graduates hired in to major entertainment, graphics, animation and digital media companies.
- The Central Florida Research Park is home to more than 10,000 employees, more than 20% of whom are associated with the simulation and training industry. The simulation companies located within the research park have created the top-rated cluster in the industry.
|
Place
- The land area of the Innovation Zone stretches from “lake to lake” – from Lake Jesup in Seminole County to Lake Nona in Orange County
- This land area includes portions of Orlando, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Bithlo and all of the University of Central Florida. It is roughly the size of Seminole County.
- Within this zone, there are three universities, two international airports, four research parks and several business incubators – as well as the Orlando International Airport.
Capital
- The University of Central Florida has emerged as a national leader in research and technology transfer. UCF received more than $120-million in research grants in 2009.
- Upon completion, the annual economic impact of the Lake Nona medical city is expected to surpass the economic impact of the Orange County Convention Center (nation’s 2nd largest), which is currently measured at $6.4-billion annually.
- Social capital: the Innovation Zone is the most diverse, most educated region in central Florida and boasts the most children per household and one of the lowest per capita crime indices in all of Florida.
|
|
