A $42.4 million grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment will create an initiative focused on cutting-edge research, technologies, innovation and jobs of the future in the South Bend-Elkhart region. The University of Notre Dame this morning announced the grant and the planned creation of the Labs for Industry Futures and Transformation, or LIFT, Network.
This story by Gerry Dick originally appeared in Inside Indiana Business.
Leadership from the university, South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership and community hope the investment will help mute the expected impact of digital automation and artificial intelligence on jobs in the region.
A 2019 Brookings Institution report named South Bend-Elkhart as the third most vulnerable workforce in the nation to the disruptive impact of automation. The five-year grant, which includes a partial match, could grow to nearly $170 million with additional funding from regional partners.
Here’s how the university describes the long-term vision of the LIFT Network:
- To leverage the research strength, faculty expertise and student creativity at regional higher education institutions to support innovation in technology, business models and skill development.
- To generate, educate, train and retain talent to sustain industry and economic growth in advanced sectors.
- To ensure that current regional manufacturing companies have the resources and capacity to innovate and become globally competitive.
- To develop the region as a globally competitive hub of applied analytics and technology along with other emerging industry sectors in the region.
The LIFT Network is the sixth regional community and economic development initiative Lilly Endowment has supported statewide since 2007.
