eMerge Americas Techweek is poised to make an economic impact on Miami—and South Florida. But how does commercial real estate fit into that mix?

First, let’s look at what it is. Set for May 5-6 on Miami Beach, eMerge Americas Techweek is a technology conference focused on key trends driving growth in the Americas. The conference is bringing together civic leaders, industry titans, entrepreneurs, and global thought leaders with the purpose of establishing a technology corridor for the Americas.

Miami, long known as the gateway to Latin America, is fast becoming the technology hub of the region. eMerge Americas aims to be the catalyst in a movement to connect the Americas through innovation and technology.

It’s off to a good start. Global corporations like IBM, JP Morgan, Univision, Cisco, as well as founding partners Greenberg Traurig, P.A., the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Medina Capital and Miami-Dade County, have signed up to support the movement to help establish Miami as a technology hub for the region.

Most recently, Cresa South Florida joined the mix. So, again, how does commercial real estate fit into the mix?

“Like the South by Southwest conference, which draws 250,000 people to Austin every year, eMerge Americas Techweek has the potential to be transformative for our region,” says Alan Kleber, a managing principal at Cresa South Florida. “We believe eMerge Americas is poised to dramatically impact Miami’s economy, from finance and healthcare, from government to real estate, and from education to entertainment and entrepreneurship.”

With more than 100 speakers and industry luminaries, including Lemon’s Wences Casares, the University of Miami’s Donna Shalala, Datadyne’s Dr. Joel Selanikio, Pivotal’s Paul Maritz, and Summit’s Jeff Rosenthal, eMerge Americas Techweek promises to bring the brightest minds together to share in a common vision of transforming a region through innovation. Discussions will involve topics that are impacting the Americas such as Creating a Culture of Tech, Sustainable Cities The Smart Way, The Explosion of Gaming in Latin America, The Transformation of Healthcare, and Virtual Currency—the Future of Money.

“The eMerge Americas movement is rapidly gathering momentum with strategic partners across all industries who are coming together to build this technology ecosystem,” says Diane Sanchez, CEO of eMerge Americas.”Global thought leaders like Cresa are enthusiastically partnering with us in this movement—and that’s just the beginning. Commercial real estate will be a key factor in establishing Miami as a technology hub. We’re excited to partner with Cresa as we develop the technology ecosystem in Miami.”

eMerge Americas Techweek will consist of dozens of events over a seven-day period including the inaugural eMerge Techweek Launch competition, Latin America’s first regional early startup and emerging-growth company competition bringing together more than 10 of the region’s incubators and accelerators. In addition a Mayoral Innovation Summit featuring mayors from the leading cities in Latin America, the United States and Europe will be convened in conjunction with Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez. It is expected that eMerge Innovate, Miami’s largest tech showcase for startups and emerging growth companies, will attract more than 1,000 entrepreneurs, developers, designers, and venture capitalists to Miami in May.

“We truly believe eMerge Americas will be a catalyst in Miami to jump start the four pillars critical to all technology hubs: education, accelerators/incubators, funding and an employment base,” says Kleber. “This could be the Art Basel of our emerging technology industry, and over time it will have a cascading impact on Miami, just like South by Southwest has in Austin.”

Source: GlobeSt