BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Dozens of high-tech spin-offs with brilliant ideas, expanded risk-taking and an energizing role for technology entrepreneurs are on deck for the Hoosier state, according to the vision of the Indiana University School of Informatics.

“Indiana is rapidly embracing a technology-based economy. Indiana University needs to have an expanded leadership position in that,” declared Robert “Bobby” Schnabel. He’s the new dean of the Indiana University School of Informatics.

He added: “We see the start of a real entrepreneurial culture taking hold in the Indiana IT industry especially where people are becoming ready to engage in risk-taking with new and commercially viable ideas.”

Fresh from a trip to China with new Indiana University President Michael McRobbie – himself a significant architect of the Hoosier state’s movement to a tech-based economy – Schnabel outlined new Indiana University initiatives coming up in an interview with MidwestBusiness.com.

Joining Indiana University from the previous position of vice provost for technology at the University of Colorado, Schnabel was upbeat about emerging information technology and what he calls “computing education” in Hoosierland.

“When I was in Colorado, I was part of a national group of information technology deans. We were very aware of the uniqueness of the Indiana University informatics program and its potential for accelerating IT application growth across a broad spectrum in the United States,” Schnabel said. “That was very attractive.”

The new Indiana University dean (who took office last July) wasted no time in furthering what he describes as “an unparalleled opportunity” for the school to energize sweeping and positive change both in Indiana and the nation.

“There is just no other place in the U.S. that has taken this broad of a view,” Schnabel said while putting forth the thought that Indiana University has the “opportunity to define the future of computing education”.

The information technology and computer science industry currently suffers from what Schnabel calls “the Dilbert effect: a bunch of geeks sitting around arguing in a cubicle”. The reality of an IT career – particularly in the 21st century – is much different.

What sets the Indiana University informatics program apart from other national IT academic programs is its focus on integrating information technology and computing applications across many different disciplines from political science to the arts to the life sciences.

The latter is of major interest to Schnabel and the informatics school particularly in the realm of bioinformatics and the convergence of IT and biotech. The fact that the Indiana University school is immediately adjacent to one of the nation’s leading research and teaching hospitals along with the Indiana University School of Medicine also doesn’t hurt.

Leveraging the academic horsepower of Indiana University’s formidable IT resources should make investment professionals and VCs sit up and take notice of what’s going down in Indiana. Schnabel added: “We have great connections with venture capitalists and development groups like Clarian Health Ventures. We only see that role expanding.”

The informatics school expects to play a larger responsibility in empowering Indiana’s economic development opportunities particularly as it relates to entrepreneurs honing an idea and taking it to market. Coupled with that will be an expanded function of greater and broader research as it relates to IT and what Schnabel describes as “translational research” (or bringing great ideas out of the lab and into commercial applications).

“The first role a university can play in regional economic development is to produce outstanding graduates,” Schnabel said. “Indiana University already does that.”

Attracting large grants and additional funding from major national and international entities such as the National Science Foundation is front and center for the informatics school under Schnabel’s leadership. Schnabel added: “Given the school’s already unique position in coupling traditional IT with real-world applications, that’s a space we can and should own.”

Such statements should make venture capitalists lick their financial chops given the traditional difficulty in finding start-ups with the intellectual moxie to make a difference. What VCs will find at the Indiana University School of Informatics is nothing short of world-class intellectual collaboration and technology transfer cooperation.

In addition to making big plays in energizing new companies, Schnabel expects to refocus the school on attracting more women and minorities into lucrative IT careers. Again referencing the “Dilbert effect,” Schnabel wants to vaporize that negative and false perception by showcasing opportunities in informatics integration.

The new Indiana University informatics strategic plan calls for the school to delve deeply in data organization.

The goal is to produce new Google-like algorithms that can make huge amounts of data readily accessible to researchers and the business community. Schnabel added: “There exist many vastly distributed data sets that will require a lot of hard work to organize and navigate through both from the technical and user sides.”

The future? Schnabel concluded: “This is a school that will have one foot firmly planted in the business community to grow the economy of Indiana.”

Michael Snyder is principal of The MEK Group, a marketing and business development consulting firm that provides communications-driven strategies to increase market share, enhance productivity and build distinctive brand awareness. Snyder can be reached at msnyder@themekgroup.com.
Click here for Snyder’s full biography.

Previous Columns in 2007:
Purdue’s New President: Growth Plans Reaching For the Stars (11/29/2007)
Entrepreneurs Swamp Indiana; Milestone Tech Summit on Deck (11/18/2007)
Second-Annual Entrepreneur Week Starts in Indiana on Nov. 5 (11/1/2007)
BioCrossroadsLINX to Bond Critical Indiana Biotech Assets (10/25/2007)
Burrill, BioCrossroads Conference: Indiana Life Sciences Expansion on Deck (10/19/2007)
Convergence Drives Runaway Success For Hoosier Biotech (10/11/2007)
‘Deals Are Getting Done, Market is Open’ in Indiana, CBRE Says (10/5/2007)
Nanotechnology ‘Backbone of Development’ Expands With Grant (9/27/2007)
Big Changes Under Way For $6 Billion Defense Industry in Indiana (9/13/2007)
Indiana is ‘Undisputed Juggernaut in Attracting Japanese Investment’ (9/7/2007)
High-End IT Professionals: Indiana’s Exploding Tech Industry Needs You (8/30/2007)
Indiana Biodiesel Plant a ‘Strategic Centerpiece’ For French Fuel Giant (8/23/2007)
China: Half a Billion in Indiana Exports and Growing Exponentially (8/16/2007)
Indiana University: New $2 Billion Partner For Economic Development (8/9/2007)
Message From ad:tech Chicago: Ignore Consumer Voice at Your Peril (8/2/2007)
Indiana Gov. Daniels: WestGate to Be ‘Flagship’ of Tech, Engineering (7/26/2007)
Taxpayer Revolt: A Constitutional Convention For Indiana? (7/19/2007)
$100 Million Formula One Rolls Out of Indianapolis, Won’t Return in 2008 (7/12/2007)
State of Indiana’s Defense Business: $4.6 Billion and Growing (7/5/2007)
Purdue Simulation of World Trade Center Impact Could Improve Design, Safety (6/21/2007)
Nobel Prize Winners, Scholars Primed For ‘Premier Conference’ in Indianapolis (6/14/2007)
2012: Repeat of 1859 Solar ‘Super Storm’ Catastrophe? (6/7/2007)
Indianapolis 500: 220 Miles Per Hour on 100 Percent Fuel-Grade Ethanol (5/31/2007)
‘Baby Steps’ For Marcadia Biotech in Indiana Grow Into ‘Giant Leaps’ (5/22/2007)
Indiana Legislature Scores Big With Innovative Patent Tax Credit (5/10/2007)
IEDC to Showcase Hoosier ‘Best, Brightest’ at BIO 2007 in Boston (5/3/2007)
‘Little 500’ Bike Race Sports 21st Century Indiana University RFID (4/26/2007)
Manufacturing Critical For Global Success, Indiana Expert Says (4/19/2007)
First-Ever Indiana Robotic Proton System Nukes Deep Tumors (4/12/2007)
Purdue’s Discovery Park a $350 Million ‘Driver For Change’ (4/5/2007)
Cellulosic Fuels, Ag Tech to Play Key Role in Indiana’s Future (3/30/2007)
With FCC Deadline Looming, Indiana Ponders Telemedicine (3/22/2007)
Realigned TechPoint Set to Energize Indiana IT Growth (3/15/2007)
Indiana General Assembly on Tech: Chaos or Collaboration? (3/9/2007)
Indiana DSI Initiative Sets New Vision of Innovative, Large-Scale Tech Transfer (3/1/2007)
No ‘Corn Dot-Com Bust’ For Indiana Ethanol, Says Ag Secretary Miller (2/15/2007)
Battelle Report: Indiana Biosciences Again Established as National Player (2/8/2007)
Indiana Defense Muscle Grows With West Gate Tech Park Expansion (2/1/2007)
Twenty in 10: President Bush Leaps Future of Hoosier Biofuels Forward (1/25/2007)
Outlook on Indiana-Based Biofuels, World Markets: ‘We’re Ready’ (1/18/2007)
ChaCha in Indiana Attracts Funding From Amazon, Compaq Founders (1/11/2007)
Purdue Ethanol Tech May Render Current Fuel Production ‘Obsolete’ (1/5/2007)
Click for 2006 column archive.
Click for 2005 column archive.

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