Tech Titans Find Pittsburgh an Ideal Spot to Grow Innovative Companies

Did you know that Pittsburgh is the only place in the world with an R&D center for Apple, Google, Microsoft, Intel and Disney? While the region has attracted these IT heavy-hitters  — in part because of the wealth of talent emerging from such universities as Carnegie Mellon and Pitt — it is also home-growing fresh IT pioneers whose work is turning heads at international consumer electronics shows and beyond.

The Pittsburgh region is home to  1,500 IT companies. A sampling of this digital diversity was served up last month to visiting national and international reporters wanting to find out what’s driving the region’s growing global reputation in this sector. From as far away as Portugal and representing such news media outlets such as Thomson Reuters, USA Today and The Globe and Mail of Canada, the journalists participated in a multi-day study of Pittsburgh’s tech scene. They concluded with a mixer where they mingled informally with some of the region’s most innovative tech entrepreneurs.

The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance partners annually with CMU to hold an Information Technology and Digital Innovation Mixer as part of the university’s InfoTech Media Fellowship. This year’s event was held at the new downtown offices of ShowClix – a fast growing, full-serve online ticketing company. Showcased was a cross-section of companies including Body Media, creator of the wildly popular FIT armband;  the Resumator, which allows small and midsize businesses to streamline their hiring and recruitment processes; mobile broadband solutions firms Smith Micro and voice translation app creator Jibbigo. Attendees were also treated to a demonstration of High Point Pittsburgh – a virtual visit to a proposed multi-use entertainment structure atop downtown Pittsburgh’s iconic U.S. Steel building.

ImaginePittsburghNow.com caught up with rising tech titans Christine Robbins, CEO of Body Media and Uniontown native Don Charlton, founder and CEO of the Resumator. Rounding out the video was Portuguese journalist Ana Rita Guerra, who shared her first-time-visitor impressions of Pittsburgh’s tech scene. Check out the video below to hear why Pittsburgh is the ideal spot to launch those next big ideas.

You can click below to watch an excerpt of our fall 2011 interview with Jibbigo CEO Mattt Harbaugh.