Dive Brief:
- Pittsburgh is becoming a tech industry hub in addition to the city’s burgeoning reputation as a premier spot for food and the arts, and many citizens involved in the tech field credit the proximity of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh for the boost, according to The New York Times.
- Companies like Apple, Uber, Facebook and Google have all opened offices in the city, feeling they can do so smoothly due to the high volume of qualified computer science graduates from local universities.
- The city has also proven to be a willing partner for experimentation — with Uber notably using Pittsburgh as a testing ground to develop self-driving vehicles — which has also benefited professors developing startups, like one Carnegie Mellon professor who was granted control of a number of traffic lights for work on smart signal technology.
Dive Insight:
The generation of a robust tech industry in a town near a college or university provides an opportunity for school leaders to forge partnerships with burgeoning companies. From such relationships, colleges and universities can benefit from apprenticeship programs and internships with premier companies, as well as informal networking possibilities, the possibility of recruiting adjunct instructors working directly in the field, and job prospects for students post-graduation. These opportunities will not only strengthen the classes and degrees offered by a school, but touting them can make an institution more attractive to high school graduates with significant computer science talent or interests.
The local economy plays multiple roles as an innovative educational environment for students and teachers alike, and as a home for entrepreneurship. Innovative graduates and professors, as well as college and university connections with venture capital firms, help support small business growth. And research partnerships with startups can conversely help close funding gaps by raising revenue. Administrators at colleges and universities in regions with burgeoning innovation economies should consider the full breadth of opportunities from both prestige and revenue standpoints.