A tech scene rising

The race is on: which US city will lay claim to the next Silicon Valley? While we all love Miami for its beaches and sunshine, a tech industry has been slowly taking hold.

Thanks to our proximity to Latin America, a large bilingual workforce, and this small detail, tech companies looking to expand south have been making the move to Miami, reports NBC correspondent Kerry Sanders on MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart show.

Ratiokontakt, based out of Pipeline Brickell, is a webhosting company that chose to move its operations from Germany to Miami thanks to the milliseconds it saves by being here. (Milliseconds matter when you are working on large websites). Likewise, STS, a telemedicine company based out of the UM Life Science and Technology Park, realized the benefits of having a built-in workforce that spoke English, Spanish and Portugese.

Not to mention, even coders love the surf, sand, and Miami’s ever-growing arts and culture scene.

While it’s unlikely that there will be another Silicon Valley, says Matt Hagman of the Knight Foundation, Miami is well on its way to carving its own path in the tech world.

You can watch the full story below, or on MSNBC.