Council Seeks to Boost Innovation in University of Hawaii System

In April, University of Hawaii's President M.R.C. Greenwood appointed an eight-member council to develop a strategy that would increase innovation and technology transfers throughout the university system. The council recently announced a drafted of four recommendations that would help the university system to "achieve a high-value economy in Hawaii." The recommendations build and approve upon the system's existing research capacity. The recommendation also focuses heavily on creating an innovation ecosystem built upon entrepreneurship and university-private partnerships. The four recommendations include:

1) Identifying Research as an Industry in Hawaii

The Council recommends that the university system put forth a strong recruiting effort to attract world-class talent in strategic advantage areas (e.g., astronomy, oceanography and volcanology). The university already attracts over $400 million in research dollars annually. With additional world-class talent in these areas, the council contends that the university could see significant increases in research funding. Developing formal relationships with non-university research entities also will "increase the research capacity and increase the probability of receiving competitive" according to the council.

2) Establishing HiTEx (Hawaii Innovation Technology Exchange)

A new innovation should replace the existing innovation continuum model, according to the report. Currently, potential investors and their companies become involved too late in the process. The council contends that "UH's Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development is viewed as a vehicle to return funds quickly to the university." The new model — Hawai'i Innovation Technology Exchange Institute (HiTEx) — would focus on public and private collaboration around translational research and offering assistance to startups through the development of proof-of-concept centers and innovation centers. HiTEx, a nonprofit entity separate of the university system, would focus on cultivating the university systems innovation ecosystem by connecting ideas, workforce, research infrastructure and capital.

3) Identifying Key Areas for Commercialization Opportunities

Three key commercialization opportunity areas were identified by the council — security and sustainability, data analytics and Asian Pacific health. The area of security and sustainability includes energy and agriculture crosses many disciplines (e.g., engineering, science, medicine, business and architecture). Due to the state's high dependence on oil and imported agriculture goods, the council believes it is necessary that the university becomes a world leader in those fields. Data analytics, the council contends, will be a strong area of future economic growth due to the "insatiable need for companies to accumulate and analyze large, exponentially growing quantities of data." Due to the state's diverse demographics, it could become a world leader in Asian Pacific health research. This diversity makes the university system and state an ideal location for clinical trials of new drugs that impact Asian Pacific populations.

4) Integrating Entrepreneurship into the Curriculum

Entrepreneurship is an essential component of growing Hawaii's innovation economy, according to the report. The council proposes the development of a system-wide integration of entrepreneurship courses into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum. This would include the development of an entrepreneurship certificate that would require courses in business and law. Read the report ...