examines some of the work being done in cities and communities in the heartland – work that is aggressively developing and growing innovation ecosystems. UofL squarely fits within this theme, as Ben Reno-Weber, director of the Future of Work Initiative, explains: “I think it’s a really exciting moment at UofL where you’re really seeing a regional university come into its own. Across the university you’re seeing great work being done and I think even more importantly being brought to the market in different ways. It’s a really exciting time to be in the city of Louisville with this anchor institution really starting to build up steam.”

There are a number of ways UofL is “.” For starters, 2020 marked a record-setting year for research being done at the institution. UofL is a collaborator on , recently launched a Center for Digital Transformation, became part of a new Artificial Intelligence Innovation Consortium, partnered with IBM for the creation of the IBM Skills Academy and more.

In episode 6 of the Flyover Future Innovators podcast, titled “,” Sharon Kerrick, UofL’s executive-in-residence and department chair of ����ֱ��al Leadership, Evaluation, and Organizational Development in the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development, discussed the new Center for Digital Transformation. The center, first announced last year, is focused on enabling technology knowledge throughout UofL and the Louisville community.

“With this new initiative, everyone gets a badge. Everyone – faculty, staff, students, every organization. The people I see as leaders, we empower them in that leadership so they can perpetuate delivering this information, so everyone gets a badge,” Kerrick said during the podcast. “I’m excited about this disruption in education, excited about how we can turn it upside down.”

She said technology hasn’t been this widely accessible since personal computers first hit the market in the 1980s and that such access will benefit entire communities and, especially, the businesses within them.

“Behind technology there’s a mystery of margin, between knowing and learning. Can we engage that curiosity?” Kerrick said. “We’re inviting people in … We are now addressing access for all. It’s not there yet, but we are addressing it and … I’m excited we’re being very intentional with it.

“Right now, everyone can play. So even though I have 30 years of tech experience, it doesn’t matter. We’re at this stage where everyone can jump in. The playing field is equalized right now.”

On the subsequent episode, “,” Drs. Monica Gentili and Lihui Bai, co-directors of UofL’s Logistics and Distribution Institute, discussed the work they’re doing with both students and industry partners.

This work is critical as data becomes more pervasive and as digital ecosystems expand. As Reno-Weber explains, “Logistics and distribution might seem boring, but for Louisville, which is within 500 miles or half day’s drive of 50% of the U.S. population and one day’s drive of 2/3 of the U.S. population, logistics is a huge part of our economy and a real competitive advantage with the rest of the country.”

Gentili explained some of the work LoDI does, for example, with kidney transplantation. She said the median wait time is about four years for a transplant; a wait time that yields nearly 5,000 deaths. There is a “huge gap” between supply and demand and LoDI is mining data to learn the motivations behind those who choose to donate in an effort to increase the donor pool.

“There is a lot of research going on to understand how to fill this gap. There is a huge amount of data and we are mining that data and trying to apply machine learning algorithms to achieve this goal,” she said.

Quite simply, the main objective of LoDI is to improve logistics, whether in regards to kidney transplants, oil delivery, electric charging stations, homeless animal adoption, name it.

“We do this from a research and an education standpoint,” Gentili said. “We have PhD and master’s students working to study more efficient solutions to existing problems, but also solutions for emerging problems as new technologies come into play.”

Louisville Future also recently featured , facilitated by the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship and facilitated by Suzanne Bergmeister. The program was rebranded from the Entrepreneurship MBA and shortened to 13 months, a move that reflected that “students don’t just learn theoretically about entrepreneurship and innovation; we offer them hands-on experience,” Bergmeister said.��

The goal, she added, is education, but “businesses being created is a frequent byproduct.” The program features hands-on innovation courses, like opportunity discovery, venture launch, venture accelerator, social entrepreneurship and venture finance.��

“Those who graduate from our program are very good at doing presentation and pitches,” Bergmeister said. The program has yielded successful businesses, like Inscope Medical Solutions, Meta Construction Technologies and Cuddle Clones.��

This idea of equitable economic recovery is critical right now, especially. The story cites data that shows from February through August 2020, the number of workers who lost their jobs permanently due to COVID-19 rose by 2.1 million to 3.4 million — an over 60% increase.

The author identified Louisville as a benchmark city for equitable recovery, looking at Humana’s role specifically, and a partnership the company has with other community organizations, including the University of Louisville. As one of the city’s largest employers, Humana and the health insurance sector at large have been less impacted by the pandemic than other industries. Conversely, the company represents a sector of the economy that is still growing and, therefore, building in-demand skills.

Technology is Louisville’s fastest-growing job sector, Humana SVP Roger Cude told the publication, which is driving local business leaders to increasingly adopt a “digital-first mindset.”

“But like other communities, Louisville-area businesses are struggling to find qualified applicants for those jobs,” he said, adding that the pandemic is “creating new and unexpected challenges and accelerating the imperative for businesses to evolve.”

Simply put, there is a greater need than ever for digital and analytical skills. This is where FutureLou comes in. The coalition entails private, public and academic leaders in the region, including the University of Louisville. These players are combining resources to “create a future-ready local workforce through training and development in high-demand data science skills and capabilities,” Cude explained.

Notably, that training is free for Louisville residents.

“The goal of the  initiative is to provide a pathway for displaced or underemployed workers to upskill into industry-aligned careers that provide stability and resilience during this period of disruption. By providing both financial support and job search guidance, we’re reducing the barriers to reskilling for digital jobs and helping Louisville residents earn credentials that will have high demand now and for the future,” Cude said.

The program is a partnership between Microsoft and Louisville Metro Government, in tandem with the General Assembly, Kentuckiana Works and a virtual “micro-campus” team.

Also as part of this effort, website became a strategic partner in Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s 30-day Data Upskilling Challenge Initiative earlier this year. The program encouraged residents to access free online, self-paced, data skills training through a COVID-19-related effort by the city’s Future of Work Initiative, also powered by Microsoft.

This isn’t the only “future-proofing” effort UofL is involved in to advance the city of Louisville and its equitable recovery.��

Last year, the university teamed up with The Humana Foundation and Interapt to bring a paid, immersive training program that teaches high-demand IT skills to the underemployed and unemployed in the community. The program, called “,” provided individuals with the opportunity to build the technical, business and life skills necessary to work in fast-paced, high-tech environment, preparing them to launch promising careers in the tech industry.

Interapt’s training program has been called “a national model of creating next-generation opportunity.” The Louisville Skills program marks the first time Interapt partnered with a major university.

Also last year, UofL became part of a new Artificial Intelligence Innovation Consortium, an alliance that also includes Amazon Web Services, GE Appliances, Amgen, V-Soft Consulting and other companies. This alliance is the first-of-its-kind for the city.��

, UofL received a nearly $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to build a program that prepares students for the ever-evolving, technology-enabled “jobs of tomorrow.” ​The UofL Modern Apprenticeship Pathways to Success (MAPS) program is funded through the DoL’s “” initiative. UofL was one of just 28 public-private partnerships funded under this federal program in its most recent round, and is the only one in Kentucky.

Finally, last year, UofL and IBM announced a partnership that includes the establishment of an IBM Skills Academy focused on digital learning and technology skills. Like Interapt’s initiative, this skills academy is the first of its kind that IBM has developed with a higher education institution.

Specifically, the academy will provide curriculum and educational tools concentrated on eight fast-growing technology areas: artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, cybersecurity, cloud computing, internet of things, quantum computing, data science and design thinking.

It is estimated that over 120 million jobs will be affected within the next three years by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and upskilling through these areas is more important.

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg of what UofL is focused on, or plans to focus on in the near term. One of UofL’s identified “,” for example, is “engineering our future economy.” This means, in part, honing our research to focus on developing and harnessing technological advancements for the digital and robotic transformation of the workforce.

As President Neeli Bendapudi said when the IBM partnership was announced: “It is important for us to be nimble with this, to be truly transformative, to say, ‘We see what’s coming, how can we be proactive?’” 

Specifically, the academy will provide curriculum and educational tools concentrated on eight fast-growing technology areas: artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, cybersecurity, cloud computing, internet of things, quantum computing, data science and design thinking.

Through IBM’s existing Academic Initiative, IBM will make available software and cloud technology with an estimated value up to $5 million a year.

“But the value of this far exceeds that figure. When you have two great institutions working together, who can say where the opportunity lies?” said UofL President Neeli Bendapudi, who made the partnership happen along with Naguib Attia, IBM’s vice president of Global University Programs, after the two met recently at an event.

This skills academy is the first of its kind that IBM has developed with a higher education institute. The company is in discussions with four universities to open similar academies in the United States. Attia said the initiative is starting here because of Bendapudi’s “passionate leadership.”

“When I heard about IBM’s vision to try and bridge the digital divide, I knew we had to work quickly,” Bendapudi said. “It is important for us to be nimble with this, to be truly transformative, to say, ‘We see what’s coming, how can we be proactive?’ I am extremely grateful to IBM.”

Bendapudi said students will benefit from the academy through course credit and IBM certification, while faculty will be trained on skills curriculum to then be able to teach colleagues and students. But the benefits are expected to extend well beyond UofL’s campus, as trained faculty will also serve as workforce development agents for the community.

Attia said over 120 million jobs will be affected within the next three years by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Indeed, the share of jobs requiring AI skills has . Global spending on blockchain solutions in 2018 equated to $2.1 billion and is expected to . Meanwhile, the global cybersecurity market, currently valued around $120 billion, is expected to jump .��

“These skills are the most critical issue of our time and the south has the highest number of employees without an education beyond high school,” Attia said. “If we don’t work to close this gap, it could have a negative impact on millions of people.”

Because of the pervasiveness of these emerging technologies and the speed at which they’re evolving, Attia noted that such skills training will be available for all students, regardless of their area of study.

“The future is not going to leave the good people of Kentucky behind,” he said.

City, state leaders react to announcement

Underscoring the impact this announcement has locally and state wide, today’s press conference was attended by Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Congressman John Yarmuth, Terry Gill, secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, and – via video –Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“I attend a lot of events where I can say ‘this is a great day for Louisville.’ But with this announcement, I can say this is an important day for Louisville; this is a critical day for Louisville,” Yarmuth said. “The world is changing at 100 miles an hour and this initiative will deal with issues of the future, including the benefits and challenges of technological change.”

Mayor Greg Fischer added that the academy will help build on the city of Louisville’s employment growth trajectory from the past eight years – about 80,000 new jobs – noting that nearly every new position includes some technology skill requirement.

“Our goal is to quintuple the amount of employees receiving technology training every year and this (partnership) is exactly what we’re talking about,” Fischer said. “If we’re not integrating technology in everything we do, we’re really missing the boat.

In a prepared statement shown via video, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell said the academy will further advance UofL’s upward trajectory and help push the boundaries of technology while providing the tools students, faculty and researchers need to be leaders in their fields.

“We shouldn’t have to rely on the west coast and the northeast corridor to be nimble in high-tech areas,” Bendapudi said. “This is a game changer for UofL and for the commonwealth.”

More information about the IBM Academic Initiative is .��

Check out footage from the press conference below: