Early in 2001, several private organizations as well as regional economic development agencies, hospital systems and Universities came together to talk about the need for a strong collaboration between the Biotechnology and Information Technology industries to bring about the promise of the genetics revolution. From these discussions, it became clear to the group that the DC region, with surrounding communities on both sides of the Potomac, has all the ingredients for becoming one of the premier centers of biotechnology, bioinformatics and computational biology. These resources include the strong Biotechnology industry presence and NIH in Maryland; the core of the Internet and Information Technology expertise in Virginia, many excellent academic institutions in the entire region: the capital of international trade, diplomacy and communication in D.C., and the proximity to the major national and international pharmaceutical companies that are located in the Boston to Research Triangle Park corridor. Moreover, a vigorous commitment to economic development has been demonstrated by all our local jurisdictions.

The BIO IT Coalition was formed by those who saw the advantage of joining together to foster the convergence of bioscience, IT and business in the National Capital region. The Coalition encourages business growth through education, collaboration, innovation, and partnership.
As our organization grew, we came to understand the advantage of and need for broadening our geographic scope. The Coalition has begun to establish partners in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Princeton, Research Triangle Park, New York and Boston. This wider coverage will afford our members greatly increased prospects for interacting with and learning from others for the purpose of partnering. The Coalition is also positioned well to develop relationships with representatives of companies and economic development people in other countries, and has such relationships with those in Ireland, Israel, the Scandinavian countries and India.

Coalition Goals:

1. To bring about an understanding of the importance of complementary jurisdictions, professions and disciplines for working together to develop the bio IT industry for producing products to improve healthcare, agriculture and environmental products.

2. To provide a forum where innovative entrepreneurs can meet others in complementary fields including investors, talented and experienced managers, lawyers and business advisors who will enable their organizations to become successful enterprises

3. To offer high quality, content rich programs which educate our members about the issues of importance to the bio IT community

4. To support the efforts of Universities and schools in providing degree and non-degree curriculum by creating scholarship and internship programs available to students at all levels of the Educational continuum which address the convergence of bioscience and IT. These programs help build a qualified workforce.

5. To expand and develop partnerships with economic development representatives from other countries who wish to establish relationships with U.S. bio and IT companies and companies in their home countries

6. To establish chapters of the Coalition in other bio IT hubs such as Philadelphia/North Jersey, Boston, and California.