This year marks a milestone moment for the St. Pete Innovation District: ten years of ideas, partnerships, and progress that have helped shape the future of our city.

This year marks a milestone moment for the St. Pete Innovation District: ten years of ideas, partnerships, and progress that have helped shape the future of our city.

The District Trolley Tour is a unique opportunity to go behind-the-scenes and see innovation in action. The tour starts when you board the Trolley and meet your fellow passengers who have diverse interests and experiences but one thing in common - excitement for the Innovation District.

Predicting the path and intensity of a hurricane is a complex science that employs not just satellite imagery, but also state-of-the-art drones that can dive, sail and fly straight into the heart of the most powerful storms (Wall Street Journal). St. Petersburg plays a role in this important work as a regional base for Saildrone at the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub.

Kudos to St. Petersburg College (SPC) for their recent win of a grant to bolster STEM workforces in technology innovation sectors. Awarded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), this grant is intended to strengthen training programs and apprenticeship opportunities to ensure that individuals can build careers in STEM fields in their own communities.

I am often asked "How does St. Petersburg compare to other Innovation Districts?" I have visited several Innovation Districts and met virtually with more. Each one is based on the same framework, sometimes explicitly and sometimes by happenstance. But their focus is different.

This fall, the USF St. Pete campus is launching the fifth year of the Innovation Scholars Career Shadowing Program. Started through an unique collaboration between USF and the Innovation District, the program provides job shadowing opportunities for incoming, high-achieving, first-year students.

Innovation Labs at The Dalí is hosting on September 16th a half day Introduction to Creative Thinking using tools and methods by top creativity scholars and practitioners. This workshop is a great opportunity to boost your creative problem solving skills and confidence.

After a 4,000-mile journey, a 117-foot twin-hulled ship granted to the University of South Florida (USF) is docked at its new home port in St. Petersburg, where it will be operated by the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) to offer transformative opportunities for students to explore and advance the field of ocean science.

Summit Exercises and Training LLC (SummitET®), a tenant of the Innovation District's Hub, has launched a new preparedness video podcast befittingly entitled “Bridging the Gap”, in which subject matter experts (SMEs) discuss the challenges that the preparedness and response community (e.g., first responders) face before, during, and after crises. Its fascinating to learn from the experts about these important topics.