Smart Cities-Smart Futures: Building a Roadmap to a Future Where There Are No Roads

Source: UIIN Blog, Authored by David Brukardt, Deborah Ford and Shawn McComb

At UIIN’s annual conference in Helsinki, CEO Arno Meerman highlighted the role of the future-oriented university as both “talent engine” and entrepreneurial “launch pad.” These traits are central to a University of Wisconsin System program currently under way with Foxconn, a major global company seeking to introduce itself to the North American market.

Crowdsourcing the Best And Brightest Ideas

This unique collaboration with Foxconn encompasses a three-year, $1.0 million ($US) higher education initiative for crowdsourcing the best and brightest ideas, energizing talent, and engaging campuses and communities. The program represents bold, out-of-the-box thinking by a leading private sector employer and is fully funded by Foxconn. Competitive awards go directly to faculty, staff, and students for innovative and creative ideas on how to live, work, and enjoy leisure. The partnership encompasses all of the public and private higher educational institutions in Wisconsin, state government agencies, and the business community in an expansive, Triple Helix collaboration.  

Introduced in 2018, the Smart Cities-Smart Futures competition offered a chance for innovators and creative thinkers at Wisconsin’s universities, colleges, and technical schools to help shape and change the future. The competition was open to anyone affiliated with the University of Wisconsin System, the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Wisconsin Technical College System. These entities represent a talent pool of more than 500,000 students, faculty, and staff. “Whether you’re a liberal-arts major or a math major, undergraduate researcher or faculty advisor, we envision a wide-open field for fresh ideas and unconventional thinking,” said Dr. Alan Yeung of Foxconn’s Technology Group.

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Chelsea McCullough