INDIANAPOLIS (June 13, 2023) — A report commissioned by TechPoint details a need to take advantage of a unique opportunity to position Indiana as a global leader in technology application and adoption beyond the traditional tech sector and into the state’s strongest advanced industry sectors.
TechPoint, Indiana’s industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s digital innovation economy and overall tech ecosystem, worked with TEConomy Partners LLC to examine Indiana’s tech sector and the degree to which tech is increasingly an embedded core competency driving economic growth across Indiana’s advanced industry sectors. Researchers used occupational data and provided an in-depth assessment and comparative analytics of tech penetration in Indiana’s major industries and business sectors.
“Nearly every key sector of Indiana’s economy lags the nation in its share of tech and tech-enabled employment, which presents a great opportunity for us,” TechPoint President and CEO Ting Gootee said. “Industrial sectors that embrace a transition to tech-enabled applications and skills are poised to reap significant economic impact. By widening our scope beyond traditional tech, we do two things: we build the tech workforce, and we bolster our key industries.”
The report, Putting Tech to Work in Critical Industries: Indiana’s potential as a global leader for technology application and adoption, found Indiana has what it takes to position its economy for growth. To do that, the report shows that economic leaders must understand each of those areas, specifically, core competencies of its tech sector; demand for core tech and tech-reliant talent across sectors; and an available and properly skilled talent pool to meet demand. See the full report here.
“As TechPoint seeks to expand its focus with a renewed mission to help serve as a bridge across sectors, there are reasons for excitement not only for growth prospects for the state’s core technology industry but also for other advanced industry sectors that use and deploy significant tech, such as the life sciences, advanced manufacturing, logistics, abgiosciences and finance and insurance fields,” the report says.
“It is clear from this report, and our understanding of the state’s economy, that core competencies in multiple technology areas are, and will increasingly be, essential drivers of economic competitiveness,” said Gootee. “As we continue to grow Indiana’s presence as a nationally significant tech hub, we will use this guidance to leverage our expertise and skills to perform new work that supports the activities of our sister initiatives within the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP) that focus on agbiosciences, advanced manufacturing and logistics and the life sciences.”
Using the report’s findings and recommendations as a guide, Gootee said TechPoint will:
- Expand current programs that convene technology leadership across sectors: TechPoint recently acquired the Indiana CIO Network, which has long focused on gatherings of Information Technology experts in the tech sector. It will expand to include an array of advanced industries to help drive tech adoption across more sectors.
- Focus tech hiring across sectors:TechPoint launched its Mission41K initiative in 2022, seeking to add 41,000 Hoosiers to the tech workforce by 2030. The organization will expand its original scope to include the state’s tech-enabled workforce throughout Indiana’s advanced industries and the most in-demand tech skills.
- Develop insights and connect Indiana tech startups to advanced industries: Modeled after Conexus Indiana’s annual survey of advanced manufacturing and logistics companies to determine their Industry 4.0 needs, TechPoint will conduct research to discover insights that enable it to better connect tech-reliant industries with Indiana tech startups, helping advance the state’s pipeline of high-growth companies.
- Enhance, create and deploy new programs:TechPoint will continue to work with Hardtech Indiana to foster connections between entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners that encouraged startup activity associated with the deployment of technology in advanced manufacturing and logistics. TechPoint will collaborate with workforce and economic development stakeholders to determine additional programming needed to put tech to work in Indiana. TechPoint will also enhance its marketing and storytelling efforts to reflect this focus on cross-sector collaboration to help drive long-term perception change.
The report’s recommendations align with TechPoint’s current strategy in tech talent and digital innovation. It also builds upon TechPoint’s existing strengths of bringing together a best-in-class network of industry, public, educational and philanthropic partners in Indiana, as well as existing programs in talent and innovation such as Xtern, skills-based hiring, Venture Support and Venture Connect.
Marketing, branding and storytelling efforts focused in these areas started with this year’s Mira Awards category updates and the recently published “Digital 4.0: Indiana’s Call to Action,” and are continuing with a series of articles and video content featuring Indiana’s digital innovation leaders across sectors. TechPoint will continue to enhance and grow this content in an orchestrated and sustained way, Gootee said.
CICP CEO Melina Kennedy said the report highlights that more needs to be done to advance tech adoption and build upon some already successful programs that are moving businesses forward in this area.
“Collaboration has always been Indiana’s best tool, and we have leveraged that for decades now within our key advanced industry sectors,” she said. “One program that illustrates this is the partnership between Conexus Indiana and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in the awarding of Manufacturing Readiness Grants. The grants are investments in smart manufacturing technology. To date, 425 Manufacturing Readiness Grants totaling $45 million have been awarded, supporting $628 million in technology-enabled capital investment among manufacturers.”
About TechPoint: TechPoint is the industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s digital innovation economy and overall tech ecosystem. The team is focused on working with public, private and industry partners to expand tech talent pipeline, enhance resource connectivity for enterprise organizations and startups alike, and elevate the industry by activating the community and amplifying stories of success. For more information, please visit www.techpoint.org.
