<p>Innovation Square, a new UF/Private partnership development between the UF campus and downtown Gainesville, is under way and its shaping up to be something pretty neat if done correctly. It aims to be a new tech hub, supporting collaboration between companies, and offering an incubator hub for start ups right in the middle. </p>
<p>It already has its first major tenant, MindTree Ltd. from India who is said to be bringing 400-600 high-wage jobs within the next few years.
MindTree</a> Is Coming to Gainesville on Vimeo</p>
<p>Innovation Square Website:
Innovation</a> Square Innovation and Community Redefined</p>
<p>Innovation Square Video:
UF</a> Innovation Square: A Collaboration of Technology, People & Research at UF - YouTube</p>
<p>I think it offers very neat and interesting potential both for the future of UF and the city of Gainesville. </p>
<p>Gainesville Video:
Gainesville-</a> Come See for Yourself - YouTube</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on this?</p>
<p>one word: precarious.</p>
<p>@aforautumn: I disagree; apparently the government has funded for the square and I’ve been to the hub in the square, and it’s well…amazing to say the least. I think there will e new dorms set up on the dorms and the IA students will have some experiences or some kind of connection with the square. It’s sort of a big deal for UF, the next big thing for the gator nation to pride on</p>
<p>I know the new 8 story infusion technology center breaks ground in the winter and yeah, the Inspireation Hall dorm is scheduled to start construction next year. Ayers plaza across from the hub is being renovated for MindTree.</p>
<p>doesn’t change my thoughts. all of these things are inclined to fail. the first graduate of the incubator is doing okay (shadow health), but pretty much all of the other startups that rent space in the innovation hub have been disappointing to me.</p>
<p>I know one thing: people are fickle. Until innovation square does more than bring in mindtree (which, by the way, had a hell of a hard time recruiting since it got here), i’m not convinced that the university, or the city, might abandon it altogether. Its not that i think its a bad idea; I just don’t think the entrepreneurial community hasn’t established its self enough for this to be considered more than a gimmick (granted, very few university incubators in the US have done better).</p>
<p>@aforautumn: “but pretty much all of the other startups that rent space in the innovation hub have been disappointing to me” is what you said. Specifically I emphasize the “to me” part. So, because they’ve been dissapointing TO YOU, in YOUR OPINION, the whole square is a bad idea? No. I beg to differ. Furthermore, your lack of sources for some of your claims is a bit mind boggling. And fact is this: An entrepeneurial community has already begun to establish itself. When I went to the Innovation Hub, they were talking about maybe needing more walls to put up the names of startup companies using the Hub. The Innovation Square is meant as a resource hotspots for entrepneurs. Entrepeneurs are risk takers. Risks means theirs a chance its good or bad. So because the risks of some entrepeneurs may end up not being so great, that doesn’t mean Innovation Square is a failure because fact of the matter is that it’s not meant to simply pump out new companies constantly, it’s meant to give the tools to those who are willing to pump out new companies.</p>
<p>The idea is to open more jobs and continue to do groundbreaking acts BY giving the tools to those capable of doing it. The tools? The Innovation Square. There are many entrepeneurs but only very few get to the levels of Microsoft or Apple. But we need many entrepeneurs, for success or not in their specific companies, entrepeneurs have ideas…the more ideas that float the more chance that one company with its own ideas will pick up on the other ideas and imbed it all to make a new, successful company. It’s not as simple as you think aforautumn, probably a lot more complicated than what I just said.</p>