BY JUSTIN GROENERTIn recent years, Indiana’s leaders and businesses have worked tirelessly to create a brighter future for all Hoosiers by embracing new and exciting technologies. Leading the pack to these emerging technologies is artificial intelligence and the possibilities that AI can create. Fortunately, our leaders are once again not missing a beat and are positioning our state as an AI economic leader. We here at Evansville Regional Economic Partnership could not be more excited about this future and these developments in AI.
There are numerous reasons why Indiana has become a beacon for AI businesses and their leaders. First, we have an incredible regulatory environment that, instead of holding AI back due to misconceptions and rumor, encourages and fosters growth in newer technologies. In Indiana we also have a talented workforce for tech companies and entrepreneurs to pull from, developed by our state’s world-class universities. Thus, when an AI company or leader considers Indiana, everything they need is available.
Examples of the tech progress being made are evident across the state. Purdue University, for instance, has grown its semiconductor laboratory into one of the best in the world thanks to being host to one of the country’s 31 designated technology hubs and being officially designated a leading state in microtechnology. This did not go unnoticed as in April of this year, South Korean microchip company SK Hynix announced plans to invest $4 billion in a factory near Purdue that will manufacture the newest and most sophisticated microchips. These chips will be used for a range of technologies, but particularly in artificial intelligence.
Semiconductor and microchip research is not the only way Indiana is leading in developing a high-tech and modern economy. Indiana University, Notre Dame and Purdue, for example, began collaborating this summer on a research consortium to examine advanced technologies critical to national defense. These include hypersonic flight, cybersecurity, micromachine systems, artificial intelligence, and advanced automation, all supporting the U.S. Navy. Another recent initiative is the Indiana Center for Emerging Technologies hub, launched in Evansville just a few weeks ago. This center will support high-tech startups in fields like robotics and advanced manufacturing, building their businesses and the future of our economy and world right in Indiana.
These strategies and commitments to developing our high-tech infrastructure are already bearing fruit. Last year, we saw more than $216 billion of venture capital investment into Indiana’s tech sector. This included $11 billion from Amazon Web Services for a data center in our state, which is the largest in its history.
Indiana, in many ways, is already a leader in new technologies, the businesses discovering, utilizing and expanding them, and the workers and entrepreneurs that are leading the charge into the future. At the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, we could not be more excited for this future and the work being done across Indiana. But we must continue to commit ourselves and our state to being a welcoming and leading partner for tech and AI companies and efforts. If we do this, the next Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley of AI, could be in Indiana.
Justin Groenert is the Chief Strategy Officer at EREP Evansville Regional Economic Partnership
