Posted: May 26, 2021
The University of Hawaiʻi will expand its innovation, entrepreneurship and workforce development ecosystem with the support of a $2.7-million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). This will be matched with $813,068 of local funding.
“In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic and world events beyond our control, never has it been more important for an island-state like Hawaiʻi to develop new industries to supplement its primary, but often fragile tourism-based economy,” said UH Vice President for Research and Innovation
Vassilis L. Syrmos. “We are grateful to the EDA for their generous grant to the University of Hawaiʻi and for recognizing the importance of our efforts to help diversify the local economy through our growing slate of innovation, entrepreneurship and workforce development programs.”
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President Joe Biden set a deadline of Memorial Day to strike an infrastructure deal with Republicans. That doesn’t look close right now. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo
DRIVING THE DAY
This week should give us a pretty good clue. It doesn’t look promising at the outset.
The term “National Security Industrial Base” (NSIB) appeared in the 2018
National Security Strategy. The NSIB is the “network of knowledge, capabilities, and people including academia, National Laboratories, and the private sector that turns ideas into innovations [and] transforms discoveries into successful commercial products.” This report outlines elements of the NSIB and how a commercially driven innovation differs from a defense-centric approach to technology. The U.S. innovation ecosystem is based on a mix of strong research universities, flexible financial systems, a competitive business focus, and risk-taking, entrepreneurial culture that is skilled at commercializing research. Other countries have similar strengths, but not at the same scale.
UMass Lowell is the first university in New England to offer Hacking for Defense, a course sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense that pairs interdisciplinary student teams with defense and intelligence organizations to rapidly address emerging national security challenges using entrepreneurial methods.