Innovate Indiana Blog

On the (Tech) Scene at SXSW13

Posted on April 5th, 2013 | By Innovate Indiana

J. Brian Anderson, Guest Blogger

J. Brian Anderson is an associate with the Innovate Indiana Fund. The $10 million fund, managed by the IU Research and Technology Corporation, provides pre-seed and seed stage equity capital to support development and growth of IU-affiliated startup ventures in new technologies.

After making my second trip to Austin, Texas for the annual South by SouthWest (SXSW) interactive business, music and film festival, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the deep representation of the Midwest at the conference.

No matter where I went, I was running into dozens of Midwesterners whether I was joining our friend Kristian Andersen founder of Indianapolis design firm KA+A at a Crawfish Boil, or randomly running into fellow Hoosiers now at iSocket in California, catching up with Cincinnati Brandery graduates Nick Tippmann (IU) of Nibletz and Michael Bergman of MyRepp or generally associating with well over 60+ Indiana representatives including Matt Hunckler of VERGE and Social Reactor, needless to say they were everywhere.

Keynote Stage SXSW13

The outside consensus was in, the Midwest is more than just well on its way to becoming a technology ‘hot spot,’ even Entrepreneur magazine knows about Indiana and our startup and business friendly environment. Without prompt, even coastal residents recognized the tech and startup environment that the entire Hoosier community has worked hard to create in its backyard. I believe this is due to the cascading effects of the ‘wins’ the state has experienced because of highly successful technology-enabled content and channel marketing companies like ExactTarget and Compendium, social platforms like Raidious and search engine ChaCha, as well as recently IPO’d First Internet Bank founded by entrepreneur David Becker.

(This list is entirely too long to do everyone who deserves to be mentioned justice… apologies)

Indy Invasion
Dozens of Hoosiers descend for a Friday dinner.

Back to SXSW — It’s tough to describe what the interactive portion of the event is really like, perhaps it’s like a frantic, caffeine fueled, 24/7 intellectual blitz of bright people and new ideas. Imagine New Years Eve for technologists… for 5 days straight.

What were the major themes at South by Southwest this year?

Hardware: Google Glass & ‘The Talking Shoe’, $2500 consumer-grade 3D printing, Leap Motion visual hand recognition ‘mouse.’ All these amazing hardware/software combinations are officially upon us and this is only the beginning of Act 1

Ambient/Location aware takes the next step: Services like ‘Google Now,’ Foursquare, and Highlight - make mobile productivity, discovery and finding new friends easier than ever – there is an absolute critical mass in this category even if there is still uncertainty about successful business models.

This years themes would not be reality without highly portable computing, deeply personalized data, a new hardware interface (or way to collect data) and a unique user interface, in fact without all these innovations there could be no innovation like Google Glass. What good would the MakerBot 3D printer be without an open user community sharing ideas and designs as well as a moderately inexpensive piece of manufacturing hardware? While web software has exploded over the last 20 years, to push beyond the traditional laptop, new interfaces and hardware are being employed in brand new environments. It’s the combination of disparate technologies at the edge of interaction that creates unexpected and often disruptive value. Easier said than done, no question.

30,621 for SXSW interactive up 25% since 2012

As important as hyper-focus is to developing deep expertise, SXSW really showed that tech leaders are great because through experimentation and collaboration they are able to invent new category-defining technology. Only together can we allow our individual arithmetic knowledge to achieve geometric power and audience where we meet our environment.

Returning veterans will boost the talent of the Hoosier workforce

Posted on November 13th, 2012 | By Kirk White

The post-WWII GI Bill was one of the most effective economic development investments made by the federal government in the 20^th century. In the Post 9/11 era, thousands of Hoosiers are returning to Indiana from military service with the promise of using their generous GI bill benefits from the VA to complete certificate and degree programs. IU understands the importance of this generation to the Hoosier economy and has placed special emphasis on making sure these Hoosier veterans are ready for the challenges of degree completion and job placement. My friend and former retired military officer, Margaret Baechtold is a great choice for this new position. IU is a great place for returning veterans or for employers to find dedicated employees.

Read the full BTOWN Banter story here

IU Business Outlook forecast: 2013 will be generally similar to 2012, marked by slow growth

Posted on November 2nd, 2012 | By Bill Stephan

For the second consecutive year, the United States economy managed to underachieve relative to economists’ unambitious expectations. Indiana University Kelley School of Business economists presented their annual forecast on November 1, and unfortunately expect more of the same in 2013.

And like a year ago, a considerable list of things could adversely upset their expectations, chief among them and most immediate, the “fiscal cliff,” a potential economic growth-killing combination of higher taxes and government spending cuts.

Other ongoing concerns include Europe’s lack of progress in dealing with its sovereign debt problems and China’s transitioning to a slower growth path. The Business Outlook Panel sees these problems as chronic.

The panel expects the national economy overall will expand by about 2.5 percentnext year — if the economy does not go over the fiscal cliff. This will bebetter than the 1.7 percent so far this year, because of somewhat better household spending, improvements in the housing market and less drag from the government sector, but not enough to make much of a dent in unemployment.

They forecast modest employment growth, with the national economy generating about 2 million new jobs. The unemployment rate will remain above 7 percent. Inflation will remain close to 2 percent.

In Indiana, the employment story has been somewhat better than expected. Jerry Conover,director of the Indiana Business Research Center, said the state’s economicrecovery made notable progress in 2012.

“From the peak just before the recession to the trough, Indiana payrolls shrank by 200,000 jobs. Since then, they’ve grown slowly but steadily by 150,000. So far this year, payroll employment is averaging more than 52,000 above last year’s levels, and the growth is accelerating,” Conover said. “This growth rate is comparable to the heady days of the late 1990s.

“This is a more appealing picture than we painted last year for Indiana, and for the year ahead our forecast calls for sustained growth — payroll job growth ofmore than 50,000 jobs in 2013,” he added. “At this rate, we’re still about two years away from our pre-recession employment level.”

Real personal incomes in Indiana will rise a bit less than 2 percent in 2013, with per capita incomes growing by about $1,500. The state’s overall economic output will grow by about 2.3 percent, comparable to the national rate.

Read the full story here

Powder Keg conference set to launch in Indianapolis; IU among sponsors

Posted on October 15th, 2012 | By David Gard

Hundreds of entrepreneurs and innovators from across the county will descend on Indianapolis this week for the inaugural Powder Keg conference to be held in the city from October 17-19. Presented by Verge, the largest community of technology entrepreneurs, startups, software developers and investors in the Midwest, Powder Keg represents the first national conference of its kind for startups to take place in Indianapolis.

Indiana University is proud to join the sponsor lineup for Powder Keg which includes, among others, ExactTarget, DevelopIndy, and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). Collaborating under the Innovate Indiana banner, IU’s sponsoring groups include: The IU Research and Technology Corporation, the Office of the Vice President for Engagement, the Kelley School of Business, IU University Information Technology Services, and the School of Informatics and Computing.

Powder Keg will feature more than a dozen inspiring keynote speakers and presenters as well as the nation’s most innovative new companies in a “startup bowl” competition. The dynamic format, venues, and interactions of the conference promise to showcase Indianapolis’ continuing emergence as a vibrant hub for technology collaboration and startup activity.

A limited amount of tickets for Powder Keg remain available and are going fast. Get $50 off with promo code: SPONSORPRO

IU alumnus Duane Embree celebrates 35 years of service supporting our national defense

Posted on September 26th, 2012 | By Kirk White

Congratulations to Mr. Duane Embree, (IU MPA ’91) Technical Director, NSWC Crane Division, as he celebrates 35 years of service supporting our national defense. Duane will retire next week and I had the pleasure of attending his celebration lunch yesterday where he was presented with a Department of Defense distinguished civilian service medal. Under Duane’s leadership IU’s collaborations with Crane have incrementally increased to include an Educational Partnership Agreement, Partnership Intermediary Agreement, internships, research partnerships and hundreds of Crane employees who have earned IU degrees. Thanks Duane for your distinguished service!

Duane Embree (left) and Kirk White (right)