The University of Hawaii will expand its innovation, entrepreneurship, and people development ecosystem with $ 2.7 million in support CARE US Economic Development Agency Act Recovery Assistance grant (EDA). That is matched with $ 813,068 in local funding.
“In view of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the world events that are beyond our control, it has never been more important for an island nation Hawaii develop new industries to complement its primary but often fragile tourism economy, ”said AH Vice President for Research and Innovation Vassilis L. Syrmos. “We are grateful for that EDA for their generous scholarship to the university Hawaii“>Hawaii and for recognizing the importance of our efforts to diversify the local economy through our growing programs of innovation, entrepreneurship and people development. “
Innovation Impact Challenge
EDA Funds will help strengthen, expand and scale AH‘s Innovation Impact Challenge (IIC) Initiative that tries to use and promote Hawaii-Based talent, knowledge and innovation to create a more resilient and sustainable economy. Led by the AH Office for Innovation and Commercialization (OIC), the two-pronged initiative aims to develop both AH-based technologies and a dedicated high-tech workforce to support them.
Under the IIC Technology development program, OIC has worked with its industry, community and government partners to identify and engage with their unique challenges AH Researchers and students to develop new innovative solutions. These innovations can have potential commercial applications that can later be brought to market either by licensing / patenting the technology or creating a startup company. current IIC Partners are Hawaiian Electric, Hawaiian Telcom, Diamond Bakery and the National Security Innovation Network.
The second component of the initiative, the IIC Workforce Development Program, will seek programs at the AH Community colleges to retrain, upgrade and upgrade the current state workforce in information technology and other areas of demand, in addition to promoting small business start-ups.
“The CARE Scholarship is proof of that EDA‘s belief in AHthe country’s ability to provide much-needed programs to stimulate and develop a stronger and more resilient economy for the state Hawaii and its citizens, “said Steve Auerbach, OIC Interim director.
This project is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Aid and Economic Security (CARE) Law (PDF) provided EDA with $ 1.5 billion in economic aid programs to help communities prevent, prepare, and respond to the coronavirus. EDA CARE Act Recovery Assistance, which is administered under the supervision of the Office’s Flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (PDF) Program, provides a wide range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
