As a technology region, Austin and San Antonio combined have great strengths that rival major tech centers like Silicon Valley.
Austin, known for software, hardware and silicon chips, has also become a vibrant incubator for high tech startups.
San Antonio, home to Rackspace, a Web hosting company, is also a high tech mecca with tons of research and development taking place at Southwest Research Institute, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the University of Texas at San Antonio and now Texas A&M. San Antonio, with its military bases, also has one of the highest concentrations of cyber security workers outside of the Washington, D.C. area.
San Antonio is also working to nurture its high-tech workforce and encourage startup companies.
So what better place to discuss the region’s strengths and how the two communities can help each other out than at a Barcamp, which is a free event in which the participants put on the show.
San Antonio has had several Barcamps and Austin has had several Barcamps. But this is the first time the two communities have joined together at a Barcamp to cross pollinate ideas.
The Central Texas Barcamp takes place this Saturday, July 7 starting at 9 a.m. and running until 5 p.m. at Geekdom at the Weston Centre, 112 Pecan Street in downtown San Antonio. A happy hour will follow the day long camp. It’s not too late to sign up. Register here. Silicon Hills News will be there. I hope you will be too.