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Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has named the town’s first Chief Expertise Officer to behave as a “concierge” for top tech firms and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs he hopes to draw to spice up Miami’s place as an innovation hub.
Throughout his State of the Metropolis deal with this week, Suarez introduced the appointment of Saif Ishoof because the Mayor’s Senior Advisor for Innovation & Expertise. This function will probably be along with Ishoof’s work at Florida Worldwide College (FIU), the place he’s Vice President of Engagement.
Attracting tech firms to Miami has been a long-term drive to create high-paying jobs and put together the town for the long run. It’s seeing new momentum, the mayor says, as some firms relocate or open everlasting places of work away from Silicon Valley and New York amid a pandemic-induced shift to distant working. Miami’s low tax local weather and good climate are a draw however firms are additionally heading to cities corresponding to Austin and Denver.
Earlier this month, Suarez said a number of high-profile monetary and tech corporations have already determined to arrange places of work in Miami, together with Spotify, Goldman Sachs and Blackstone, in addition to a number of entrepreneurs and buyers.
Miami startups raised near US$1 billion in enterprise funding final 12 months, in accordance with preliminary Crunchbase information.
How can I assist?
A tweet from Mayor Suarez lately went viral after he replied “How can I assist?” in response to a suggestion from Delian Asparouhov, a principal on the enterprise capital agency Founders Fund, to “transfer Silicon Valley to Miami”.
This noticed the mayor partaking with a stream of technology executives expressing curiosity and praising the business-friendly strategy.
Ishoof and a wider staff will work to scale back paperwork and join companies to incentives and expertise within the metropolis.
“I’m excited to help this novel partnership with the Metropolis of Miami,” Ishoof commented. “I stay up for bringing my prior expertise as an entrepreneur, lawyer and present function as a college administrator in supporting Mayor Suarez’s efforts to unlock Miami’s fullest potential as a sturdy hub for know-how.”
The Metropolis of Miami has additionally launched a new eStart app, which permits customers to use for enterprise licences from their smartphone or pc.
Cryptocurrency
This week, the Metropolis of Miami uploaded the 2008 Bitcoin Whitepaper by pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, who developed bitcoin.
“The Metropolis of Miami believes in bitcoin,” stated Suarez. “I’m working day and night time to show Miami right into a hub for crypto-innovation. [I am] proud to say Miami is the primary municipal authorities to host Satoshi’s whitepaper on a authorities web site.”
A metropolis assertion stated: “The Metropolis of Miami is devoted to turning into a mannequin twenty first century metropolis. We predict meaning embracing and supporting disruptive applied sciences that problem the established order and enhance how we work together with each other. Bitcoin, the decentralised monetary community that enables people worldwide to retailer and ship worth to at least one one other with out middleman brokers like banks or cost processors, is a know-how we imagine will remodel the world.”
The mayor has suggested he might take into account investing some authorities funds in bitcoin in addition to permitting residents to pay taxes and costs to the town in cryptocurrency.
He lately hosted a City Hall meeting with the Winklevoss brothers who run the crypto-exchange Gemini, to debate the way forward for cryptocurrency and bitcoin, and the potential of a headquarters for the corporate in Miami.
In December, Suarez known as bitcoin a “steady funding throughout an extremely unstable 12 months”, though some specialists warn that in comparison with different investments, it may be extremely unstable and dangerous, and could possibly be a ‘bubble’.
Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk additionally took to social media to pitch constructing his Boring Firm tunnels below Miami to scale back congestion and emissions. Suarez said he was “open to discussing” Miami being a prototype metropolis, regardless of it being located just a few ft above sea degree and weak to additional rises. The town already has the Port Tunnel.
