The city of São José dos Campos is one of the most important cities in the interior of the state of São Paulo. It is located in the Paraíba Valley, on the banks of the Presidente Dutra highway. The city is considered a major technological and innovation center and has a modern technological and industrial hub.

São José dos Campos is a national reference. It is home to the DCTA (Department of Aerospace Science and Technology), INPE (National Institute for Space Research), Embraer (the country's leading manufacturer of commercial, executive and military aircraft), as well as other important teaching and research centers and large companies such as Petrobras, Johnson & Johnson, Ericsson, Phillips, General Motors, Monsanto, IACIT, Panasonic.

It also has the most advanced technology park in Brazil. The São José dos Campos Technology Park, which in 2019 already had around 9,000 people working or studying there, making it the largest technology park in Brazil. The São José dos Campos Technology Park is an enterprise for the promotion of science, technology and innovation. It has technological development centers in the areas of energy, ICT, aeronautics, defense, health, water resources and environmental sanitation, as well as hosting companies operating in the information and communication technology, electronic instrumentation, geoprocessing, aeronautics, defense, space, energy, health and biomedicine sectors. The park is part of the São Paulo System of Technology Parks and is located in Eugênio de Melo, a district on the east side of São José dos Campos. The Park has almost 380 companies and institutions linked to it, such as resident companies, incubated and accelerated startups, companies associated with local productive arrangements (APLs), science and technology institutes, universities, civil society entities and technology development centers.

The municipality of São José dos Campos is located in the Paraíba Valley of São Paulo, to the east of the state capital, about 97 km from it. It stands out as one of the most important cities for the economy of the Vale do Paraíba Metropolitan Region. São José dos Campos has a population of approximately 730,000 inhabitants and is currently the fifth most populous city in the state of São Paulo.