Purdue University Launches Community Smart Technology Initiative

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An Indiana university and its partners have officially launched a new initiative that aims to facilitate the adoption and use of smart technologies throughout a campus-area innovation community.

Purdue University officials announced the establishment of the Digital Trust Initiative at Discovery Park District, a collaboration between tech nonprofit U.S. Ignite, data protection firm X.Q. Message, and the Purdue Research Foundation’s Innovation Partners Institute.

Organizers said the effort would "provide oversight for the deployment of smart technologies" across the Discovery Park District, a $1 billion, 400-acre “micro-urban environment” in West Lafayette, Indiana. The project aims to improve residents’ quality of life while providing them with more control over their digital identities and establishing "guidelines for ethical data collection."

Officials also hope that the project will become a model for other areas attempting to balance innovation with the values of the community.

The effort was made possible by an undisclosed “generous” gift from Jay and Robyn Stead and the Stead Family Foundation. Jay Stead, a New Zealand businessman, is a Purdue alumnus.

"We are very excited about this collaboration,” Troy Hege, the vice president of research and technology at the Purdue Research Foundation, said in the announcement. “We have a unique opportunity to explore commercial and community data and trust models from around the world through our partners' very different and distinct perspectives, with an eye toward sustainability, innovation and trust."

Image Credit: Purdue University

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