Guiding Principles: Support, Deliver and Amplify

GTI's approach is to support applied research, to deliver solutions to real problems, and to amplify the impact through accelerated industrial adoption and use.

GTI provides these services by creating communities of interest between those who do research and those in industry who can apply it. Such communities include Irish universities, institutes, research centres, professional associations, companies and Georgia Tech itself. GTI acts as a partner and collaborator with these communities, reaching back, as needed, to the research capabilities of Georgia Tech.

Support to industry includes conducting applied research, providing advanced engineering support, and offering workshops and continuing education. "Our goals are to give our business partners a competitive advantage and to make our industry collaborators outrageously successful," said GTI Executive Director Steven Cross.

The creation of test beds to support research is a feature of the GTI model that adds special value to its partnerships. These test beds set up experimental conditions that allow partners to rigorously test new technologies, theories and computational tools before they are implemented on a broad scale.

Each test bed can be imagined as the central element of a giant feedback loop. Scientists in commercial R&D may utilize the test beds as pilots for innovative products, tapping into the resources of GTI's academic partners in Ireland and Georgia to solve especially difficult problems. Similarly, through GTI, academic researchers can be introduced to corporate sponsors for work of mutual interest.

Initially, GTI has chosen to focus on a few key areas where it can have maximum impact. Two nascent technologies that have applications in a wide range of industries have been targeted. These technologies, Interactive Television and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), are believed to have enormous market potential. They will also serve as the catalyst for a broad set of collaborations in education, fundamental research and lifelong learning.

GTI's other focus areas are the use of technology to improve the delivery of health care, and sustainable energy.