Innovation and Commercialization
Innovation has become the key to improved global competitiveness for many industry sectors. The new reality for business is that local companies must continually innovate, adapt and create new products, processes and services to compete beyond regional borders. This requires a comprehensive approach to our economic development efforts that focuses on developing a skilled workforce, promoting job and wealth creation, creating a world class quality of life, and promoting entrepreneurialism.
The Innovation and Commercialization Division coordinates our efforts in the bioscience, information technology, and advanced manufacturing industries. Their mission is to grow Iowa’s economy by fostering entrepreneurship and supporting the workforce, commercialization, and marketing activities of these industries.
- Information Technology Training Program — With the increasing difficulties in finding workers with the right skills, it is important for information technology firms to develop, retool, refine, and broaden the skills of their existing workers. The rapidly changing and evolving nature of the industry requires a more flexible response than is currently provided under traditional job training programs. This program provides funds for IT firms in Iowa to upgrade the technical skills of existing high-level employees.
- Iowa Information Technology Joint Venture Fund — Provides up to $100,000 in financial and technical assistance to encourage joint-venture development of "orphan" IT innovations. The primary purpose of this program is to encourage Iowa IT-user companies and IT producer companies to work on joint R&D programs to develop the next generation of IT products and services.
- Demonstration Fund — Provides pre-seed capital awards of up to $150,000 to encourage prototype and concept development activities by small and medium-sized Iowa companies in the advanced manufacturing, biosciences, and information technology industries. The fund is designed to encourage commercialization of innovation to foster competitive, profitable companies that create high paying jobs and wealth in Iowa.
- Networking Fund — The targeted industries networking fund establishes a program to provide financial assistance to support sponsorships of networking events for the creation of new deal flow within the targeted industries. Sponsors of networking events will bring together entrepreneurial businesses, established companies and members of the university research community to discuss new technologies and the innovations which the technologies support.
- Iowa Student Internship Program — The Iowa Student Internship Program links college students from Iowa schools to internship opportunities in small and medium sized firms in the biosciences, advanced manufacturing and information technology industries with the goal of transitioning the interns to full-time employment in the state upon graduation.
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