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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: April 19, 2013
Midtown Alliance, the driving force behind the revitalization of Midtown Atlanta, today announced a new partnership with Georgia Tech to expand and strengthen Midtown’s flourishing innovation district. This unique partnership combines Midtown’s desirable setting with Georgia Tech’s considerable intellectual capital, research labs and incubators to develop leading-edge technology approaches to enhance the urban environment.
The Midtown Alliance-Georgia Tech partnership will work with local thought leaders on strategies to further strengthen Midtown’s technology infrastructure, create commercial real estate opportunities for entrepreneurs and highlight the sizeable array of innovation assets, activities and success stories that are happening now.
The first phase will include the creation of a Live-Work-Play “Laboratory” for exploring the potential of media technologies and creating a climate for continual innovation. A vital component of the living laboratory will be the development of an open platform for experimental mobile applications designed to enrich the Midtown experience for those who work, live and visit here. Initial mobile apps using this platform will focus on areas that have a close nexus with the work of Midtown Alliance. This exciting partnership will explore areas including augmented reality tours of the district, apps to help users find parking and real-time public transportation options, and ways to gather community feedback loops for upcoming projects and initiatives. Applications will be tested and improved with public feedback; new participants and industry partners will be encouraged to use the open platform to develop applications that can be piloted in Midtown.
“Through this unique partnership with Georgia Tech, we will explore how to harness an array of new technology and tools to further enhance the user experience and buttress our city’s innovation assets,” says Dennis Lockhart, chairman of the Midtown Alliance. “Midtown Alliance has been focused on making Midtown a more livable, walkable and vibrant district for a long time, through physical improvements, urban design and a range of programs to improve the physical environment.”
Kevin Green, Midtown Alliance’s CEO, notes that successful innovation districts come from partnerships among higher education, business, entrepreneurs and government. “Midtown today has an impressive array of innovation assets and activities concentrated in close proximity and in a vibrant urban district. This is the ‘power of place.’ As an organization focused on Midtown and our city’s continued progress, we want to leverage the success that is already happening here around technology innovation, help to connect the dots and grow it even further.”
“Many of the programs and resources in Midtown support entrepreneurs and connect industry leaders with students and researchers based in Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute,” said Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson. “This collaboration is a great example of Georgia Tech engaging with the community and industry to create economic development that will benefit Midtown and Atlanta as a whole."
“This partnership is a natural extension of our research in media, health and community-focused technologies that directly impact quality of life,” said Beth Mynatt, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology, who will lead the laboratory activities. “The partnership will bring together the best of Georgia Tech’s inventive power and the innovation culture of Midtown Atlanta.”
About Midtown Alliance:
Midtown Alliance is a non-profit membership organization and a coalition of leading business and community leaders – united in our commitment to Midtown as a premiere destination for commerce, culture, education and living. Governed by a 56-member board of the district's top leaders, our mission is to improve and sustain the quality of life for those who live, work and visit Midtown. The Alliance accomplishes this goal through a comprehensive approach to planning and development that includes initiatives to enhance public safety, improve the physical environment, and strengthen the urban amenities which give the area its unique character. Guided by a visionary master plan – Blueprint Midtown – and in partnership with the Midtown Improvement District, Midtown has become a national model for urban excellence. To learn more about Midtown Alliance initiatives visit midtownatl.com.
About Georgia Tech:
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the world's premier research universities. Ranked seventh among U.S. News & World Report's top public universities, the Institute enrolls 21,500 students within its six colleges. Georgia Tech is the nation's leading producer of engineers as well as a leading producer of female and minority engineering Ph.D. graduates. Holding more than 848 patents and receiving approximately $689 million in research and development expenditures, Georgia Tech ranks among the nation's top ten universities (without a medical school) in research expenditures. Visit www.gatech.edu for more information.
