A Message from the Arizona Technology Council President + CEO

Last quarter I wrote here, "Strong performance in the tech industry is not surprising, given how the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to rely on technology more than ever. Hopefully, this strength will continue even as the significant headwinds persist."

Significant headwinds associated with COVID-19 will continue to persist, but I am hopeful as I was last quarter the strength of Arizona’s tech industry will continue to grow. That growth benefits employees, employers, and consumers in every industry in the state (in fact, for every 100 jobs added in the tech industry, 376 new jobs are created in other industries).

The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, has appointed Dr. Sunil Sharma as physician-in-chief following a nearly three-decade career that spans the areas of research, drug and clinical trial development.

Sharma joined TGen in 2017 as deputy director of clinical sciences, professor, and head of TGen’s Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Division.

At TGen, Sharma broadened his research and clinical portfolio beyond his specialty of colon and pancreatic cancers to include drug development— immunotherapeutic treatments in particular—for COVID-19, Alzheimer’s disease, memory performance and other cancers, including breast and ovarian cancer.

Read more on the AZTC blog.

TWW’s Arizona State Director Jaime Molera had the chance to virtually interview Arizona Corporation Commission Chairwoman Lea Márquez Peterson recently. The conversation covered the latest in Arizona’s energy policy landscape and how new technologies and innovation are driving significant changes.

Read more on the AZTC blog.

Calline Sanchez is Vice President of IBM Systems Lab Services and IBM Systems Technical Universities, as well as State Leader for Arizona and New Mexico. In her role, she leads a team of worldwide technology consultants to deliver IBM Systems solutions.

Calline joined Molly Castelazo, storyteller-in-chief at Castelazo Content, in a lively conversation that ranged from overcoming shyness to being authentic to managing a team of a thousand engineers and scientists all working remotely.

Read the full transcript of Molly and Calline's conversation on the AZTC blog.

A pandemic-focused year made the events of 2020 more tumultuous in numerous ways, and the onslaught of cyber attacks across industry sectors heated up the cybersecurity landscape. Attackers embraced new techniques and a hurried switch to remote access increased cyberthreats across the board.

The Arizona Technology Council kicked off its 2021 Tech Speaker Series on Tuesday, February 16 with one of Arizona’s leading IT managed service providers and cybersecurity leaders, AccountabilIT. Focusing on cyber resiliency, experts from AccountabilIT shared their insight and expertise on security predictions for 2021, provided valuable strategies for attendees to protect their business and mitigate cybersecurity risk, attacks and breaches.

Read more on the AZTC blog.

Nearly $1 billion is being spent to create manufacturing facilities for cars and big rigs. Casa Grande is home to Lucid Motors’ new 820,000-square-foot electric vehicle factory, a project launched with a groundbreaking in December 2019. In nearby Coolidge, Nikola is building its facility to assemble hydrogen powered trucks, which could be rolling off the assembly line as soon as late 2021.

Read more on the AZTC blog.

The TIMESTEP Summer Internship Program is a unique opportunity for small- to mid-sized businesses based in Southern Arizona to connect with talented UArizona undergraduate juniors in the Physical Sciences. This competitive program provides employers with a vetted pool of students who have worked in research teams, possess computing skills and are ready to work alongside development and engineering teams.

Read more on the AZTC blog.

Individuals looking to jumpstart careers in the growing fields of data science, software engineering, and website and app design, are now able to take advantage of a new online training program through Arizona State University and Chegg, Inc.’s career accelerator, Thinkful. Learners who enroll in one of the training programs can choose to study either full-time or part time and complete in 5-6 months. This program is launching at a time when companies continue to face an ongoing shortage in tech talent, a trend that is only expected to grow as advancements in technology accelerate. The partnership and project is one of many designed and implemented by ASU’s Learning Enterprise, a newly created initiative aimed at increasing social and economic opportunity for individuals at every stage of life outside of traditional undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Read more here.

"As our state legislature and the governor starts their annual back-and-forth on the state budget, there is much discussion about making Arizona attractive to business by lowering taxes and removing burdensome regulation. I get it. Both issues factor into the calculation companies make when they look at locating or growing in the state...For many businesses, however, taxes and regulations are smaller contributors to the equation. They care about roads, universities, and people."

Read more on the AZTC blog.

The AZ Tech Industry Impact Report is a product of eIMPACT, published by by the Arizona Technology Council .

The Arizona Technology Council (AZTC) is Arizona’s premier trade association for science and technology companies. Recognized as having a diverse professional business community, Council members work towards furthering the advancement of technology in Arizona through leadership, education, legislation and social action. The Council offers numerous events, educational forums and business conferences that bring together leaders, visionaries, and community members to make an impact on the technology industry. These interactions contribute to the Council’s culture of growing member businesses and transforming technology in Arizona. To become a member or to learn more about the Arizona Technology Council, please visit www.aztechcouncil.org and follow AZTC on Twitter at @aztechcouncil.

Sources:

Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages

The Brookings Institute: America's Advanced Industries: New Trends, 2016

United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Technology Monitoring Team

CompTia Cyberstates, 2017 Report

PwC Money Tree Venture Capital Report

AngelList
SBIR.gov

American Community Survey, 2012-2016 
NSF, National Science Board