To meet the needs of a changing world, the institute is returning to its roots as a source of new research and programs addressing key unstructured problems. Our focus is shifting to the topic of entrepreneurship in rural regions and small isolated cities.
Rural areas lag behind urban centers in wages and economic development. Indeed, some people have argued that we should just allow this trend to continue unabated as it is the natural evolution of the modern economy. We respectfully disagree.
We believe that rural regions and small cities have a crucial role to play in the economy in Texas, in the United States more broadly, and particularly around the world where many countries have a larger rural population than we do in the US.
IC² is naturally a collaborative place. We will bring together members of The University of Texas at Austin community who share common interests. We will also connect with groups around the country and around the world to share ideas and to push research forward. We will also continue our tradition of starting new programs in our area of focus. To that end, look for announcements about the new Home to Texas program that IC² is developing along with the School of Undergraduate Studies.
We hope that you will consider getting involved in what we do.
Sincerely,
Art Markman
Executive Director, IC² Institute
The University of Texas at Austin