Global university leaders gather at ASU’s AI Innovation Center

A melting pot of technologists gathered for a two-day knowledge share visit, where they learned about the infrastructure and tools that contribute to a culture of innovation at Arizona State University (ASU).

As part of the executive innovation visit, 16 technology leaders from ten different universities — including institutions in Germany, Sweden, Spain and South Africa — gathered at the SkySong Innovation campus to learn about the model of the ASU Artificial Intelligence Cloud Innovation Center (AICIC), powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the work ASU is pioneering in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. Many of the guests were interested in developing similar models, and leaders at ASU were eager to share their knowledge.

“Higher education has always been very collaborative and this is our way to work with very diverse universities where we might get new ideas or we might have the ability to partner,” said John Rome, deputy chief information officer at ASU Enterprise Technology.

ASU’s partnership with AWS was one of the focal points of the conversation. Combined, the technology advances of AWS and the research and development capabilities of ASU help amplify digital transformation in the greater Phoenix area.

“The idea behind this entire event is all about inspiring,” said Colleen Schwab, an AWS global digital innovation lead. “At AWS, we want to be viewed as a collaborator in an innovation journey… Why ASU continues to open its door, strategy and people is because it’s a part of the charter. The last sentence in the charter really speaks to sharing information and benefiting the community.”

Lev Gonick, chief information officer at ASU Enterprise Technology, closed the visit with a rousing speech about the importance of having technology and a team of technologists aligned with the highest aspirations of the university.

“ASU’s use of technology informs the clock speed of ASU,” he said. “To believe in the charter of this institution, it is not an intellectual position to take. It is a call to action.”