Several weeks ago, the Austin Technology Council honored 10 people as inductees into the Austin Technology Hall of Fame in a ceremony organized by • Thom Singer, CSP 🌟. We’re humbled that so many of the recipients — George Kozmetsky, Laura Kilcrease, John Sibley Butler, Bobby Inman, even Michael Dell — are tied to the IC2 Institute — and we wish them heart-felt congratulations.
The Institute was founded – almost 50 years ago! – to study the drivers of economic development and shared prosperity. But founder George Kozmetsky wanted more than to merely study those drivers: he wanted to set them in motion.
🔬 Using Austin as laboratory, Kozmetsky and his team developed a model for regional economic development that centered on science and technology.
Kozmetsky understood that if science and technology are to be the catalyst for economic growth, then academia, business, and government must come together to provide the scaffolding for #innovation.
And, in fact, one of Kozmetsky’s greatest gifts was the ability to connect these three sectors around the goal of building a local #entrepreneurial ecosystem to support technological advancement and sustained job creation.
🏆 Those honored by the Austin Technology Council led the development our Austin ecosystem, brought technology-innovation to Central Texas, launched the Austin Technology Incubator, led angel investment practices in local startups, demonstrated that student innovators could become market-leading CEOs, and taught generations of entrepreneurs across the 40 Acres and beyond to realize their entrepreneurial dreams.
Almost 50 years later, the IC2 Institute is operating along the same principles — with innovation-driven economic development as the goal; science and technology as the catalyst; and the connection of key players around big ideas, the special sauce.
👩⚕️ Today, Health AI is our top research priority. Still primed to advance technological innovation, the Institute is facilitating the ethical development of #AI to augment the incredible work of #healthcare providers and support the well-being of all.
🌎 And we're exploring other aspects of a #WellBeingEconomy, too: examining the impact of energy transitions on regional economies, helping communities recover from trauma, seeking a better understanding of environmental and social exploitation, training historically underutilized businesses, and more.
Kozmetsky envisioned IC2 Institute as a “think and do tank — and almost 50 years in, we're still thinking and doing. 🎩 Hats off to the trailblazers who paved the way!
