Knight Foundation invests $15M to boost Miami's tech talent, innovation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has awarded grants to some of South Florida's largest colleges and employers in an effort to boost the region's technology talent pool.

The foundation's just-announced $15 million investment in the University of Miami, Florida International University and Baptist Health South Florida come as a rush of companies leave traditional technology hubs including Silicon Valley and New York for sunnier, tax-friendly states such as Florida and Texas. Miami's national profile as a place that's welcoming to innovative companies has grown exponentially as a result.

FIU will receive the lion's share of the investment, intended to boost potential hires locally for the companies that relocate here. The Knight Foundation pledged $10 million to create the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences. The funds will double the faculty at the Miami-based university's computer science and engineering school, upgrade it with state-of-the-art computer equipment and add research space.

FIU is the second-largest university in South Florida, according to Business Journal research, No. 1 in the nation for engineering and computing degrees awarded to Latino students, and No. 6 in degrees awarded to Black students. More than 80% of its 60,000 students are from greater Miami

 

Read more: https://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2021/02/24/knight-invests-15m-to-boost-tech-talent.html

 

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