THE GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN AWARDED A MAJOR COMPETITIVE FEDERAL GRANT THAT WILL ENABLE IT TO BECOME AN IMPORTANT RESOURCE TO REGIONAL SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZE COMPANIES DESIROUS OF BOOSTING THEIR EXPORTS AND BECOMING MORE GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE.
WE MUST WORK HAND-IN-HAND WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, SAID DR. JOHN R. MCINTYRE, DIRECTOR OF THE NEW CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, WHICH IS LOCATED AT THE IVAN ALLEN COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT, POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ON THE GEORGIA TECH CAMPUS IN
ATLANTA.
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCED THE GRANT IN LATE JUNE FOR A THREE-YEAR PERIOD, BUT A REVIEW PROCESS WILL BE UNDERGONE ANNUALLY. THEY WILL WANT TO SEE HOW WE USE EACH DOLLAR OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO GET THE BIGGEST BANG FOR IT THAT WE CAN, SAID DR. MCINTYRE.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CENTER AND ITS PROGRAMS WILL AMOUNT TO MORE THAN $600,000 WITH GEORGIA TECH MATCHING AN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT FOR A TOTAL EXCEEDING $1 MILLION. OTHER INSTITUTIONS IN THE SOUTHEAST THAT HAVE RECEIVED SIMILAR GRANTS ARE MEMPHIS STATE UNIVERSITY, THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA.
UNDER THE TERMS OF THE GRANT, THE CENTER’S RESEARCH WILL FOCUS ON FOUR STRATEGIC INDUSTRY SEGMENTS – TELECOMMUNICATIONS; INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, ESPECIALLY SOFTWARE; PAPER MAKING TECHNOLOGY; AND MANUFACTURING, AND ON THREE GEOGRAPHIC AREAS OF CRITICAL COMPETITIVE CONCERN TO U.S. INDUSTRY – THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO FRANCE AND GERMANY; JAPAN AND MAINLAND CHINA.
GEORGIA TECH IS EXTREMELY FOCUSED ON MANAGING TECHNOLOGY AND THE INTERFACE BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS, SAID DR. MCINTYRE WHILE EXPLAINING THAT THE NEW CENTER WILL SERVE AS A CATALYST FOR GEORGIA TECH TO INTEGRATE AND ADVANCE A BROAD RANGE OF DIVERSE ACTIVITIES RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, LANGUAGE TRAINING AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AND PROFESSOR EXCHANGES. THE CENTER ALSO WILL BENEFIT FROM CURRENT INITIATIVES AT GEORGIA TECH RESEARCHING PRODUCT SPECIFICATION AND INTERNATIONAL
STANDARDS.
IN ADDITION, THE GRANT WILL PROVIDE THE IMPETUS FOR A NEW MASTERS IN INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, WHICH WILL REQUIRE LANGUAGE COMPETENCY, A FOREIGN INTERNSHIP AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE, AND PRACTICAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION CONCERNING TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCT AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES IN SELECTED AREAS OF THE WORLD. FURTHER INTERNATIONALIZATION OF CORE COURSES IN THE MASTERS PROGRAM IN MANAGEMENT AND THE STRENGTHENING OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMPONENT IN THE UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN MANAGEMENT ARE OTHER ASPECTS OF THE PROGRAM.
THE THREE-YEAR PLAN OF COORDINATED, MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH WILL HELP U.S. HIGH-TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES, ESPECIALLY SMALL AND MID-SIZED COMPANIES, SUCCESSFULLY LOCATE MARKET NICHES FOR THEIR PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES, ACCORDING TO DR. MCINTYRE. A NATURAL OUTGROWTH OF THIS RESEARCH, HE ADDED, WOULD INVOLVE THE IDENTIFICATION OF PARTNERS IN THESE OVERSEAS MARKETS AS WELL AS THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPROPRIATE BUSINESS STRATEGIES.
GEORGIA TECH WILL FURTHER BENEFIT FROM CLOSER RELATIONS WITH ALL INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IN THE HEART OF THE SAARLORLUX EUROPEAN REGION WHICH INCORPORATES THE COUNTRY OF LUXEMBOURG, THE FRENCH REGION OF LORRAINE, THE LUXEMBOURG REGION OF BELGIUM AND THE SAAR AND RHINE-PALATINATE AREAS OF GERMANY.
ALREADY GEORGIA TECH’S SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING HAS A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH AND AN EXTENSION CAMPUS AT THE FRENCH SUPELEC SCHOOL IN THE CITY OF METZ IN THE SAARLORLUX REGION. CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS WITH A NUMBER OF CHINESE INSTITUTIONS, AND FUKUOKA UNIVERSITY IN FUKUOKA CITY ON KYUSHU, JAPAN, WITH WHICH THE CITY OF ATLANTA HAS ESTABLISHED TIES, ALSO WILL BE ENHANCED.
A MAJOR OBJECTIVE OF THE GRANT IS TO ENABLE GEORGIA TECH TO CREATE AND DISSEMINATE STRATEGIC INFORMATION. A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY HAVE BEEN STUDYING GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY DATA BASES TO ENHANCE COMPETITIVENESS AND HAVE CONCLUDED THAT THAT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT GAP IN SHARPLY FOCUSED, READILY ACCESSIBLE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION.
TO FILL THIS INFORMATION GAP, THE CENTER WILL UNDERTAKE A SERIES OF COUNTRY BUSINESS/TECHNOLOGY OUTLOOK BRIEFINGS, A SERIES OF OVERSEAS BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE TOURS, AS WELL AS BUILD AND OPERATE A COMPUTERIZED DATA BASE ADDRESSING EMERGING GLOBAL TECHNOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS. THE DIRECT BENEFICIARIES OF THESE ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE THE SMALL TO MEDIUM-SIZED FIRMS WHO CURRENTLY ARE THE MOST SEVERELY CRIPPLED BY THE ABSENCE OF THIS INFORMATION, SAID DR. MCINTYRE.
SEVERAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS DEDICATED TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND EXCHANGE HAVE AGREED TO ASSIST IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE PROGRAMS, INCLUDING: THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY, TRADE AND TOURISM (GDITT); THE REGENTS’ GLOBAL CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA; THE INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF THE ATLANTA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE; THE TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVES ROUNDTABLE/ATLANTA CHAPTER; THE WORLD TRADE CLUB ATLANTA; THE SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FELLOWS; THE CARL DUISBERG SOCIETY OF THE USA, INC.; THE JAPAN-AMERICA SOCIETY OF GEORGIA INC.; THE FRENCH-AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE USA, INC.; THE SHANGHAI INDUSTRY FOUNDATIONS’ LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE AND CHINA-TECH.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT DR. MCINTYRE AFTER SEPT. 6. TEL: (404) 894-4379; FAX: 894-6030.