{"id":75744,"date":"2019-10-03T09:34:49","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T14:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=75744"},"modified":"2024-09-27T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T15:02:00","slug":"disruptive-technologies-lab-aims-to-help-fill-tech-job-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/disruptive-technologies-lab-aims-to-help-fill-tech-job-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Disruptive Technologies Lab aims to help fill tech job demand"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 51ÁÔÆæ lab where students learn cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence, blockchain and cryptocurrency also has the capacity to fill an important need in southeastern Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

The Disruptive Technologies Lab<\/a> can help get students ready to fill jobs or become the future entrepreneurs needed to help Milwaukee attract and retain employees in the growing tech sector, said Matthew Friedel, a co-founder of the lab and senior lecturer in the School of Information Studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lab supports the emerging regional technology ecosystem, and serves as a hub for research, collaboration and innovation,\u201d Friedel said.<\/p>\n

But growing that ecosystem requires more workers with the skills needed to fill those jobs.<\/p>\n

A report commissioned last year by MKE Tech Hub<\/a> estimated that there were nearly 76,000 tech sector workers in southeastern Wisconsin in 2017, with potentially 31,000 openings in the sector over the following five years. It found that technology-dependent industries contributed more than $27.6 billion in regional impact in 2017.<\/p>\n

Area lags behind<\/h3>\n

The report found that the number of jobs in what was called the \u201ctech talent cluster\u201d grew in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area by 7.4% between 2010 and 2017, lagging behind similarly sized metropolitan areas.<\/p>\n

Separately, CBRE Group<\/a>, a\u00a0 global commercial real estate company, ranked Milwaukee No. 44<\/a> among the 50 largest U.S. and Canadian markets in a report that measured a metropolitan area\u2019s ability to attract and grow tech talent.<\/p>\n

Friedel advocates passionately for Milwaukee\u2019s potential as a tech center and 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s role in spurring that development, so much so that he is a presenter at this year\u2019s Fall Experiment<\/a> conference on Oct. 4-5 at the Wisconsin Center. On its website, Fall Experiment is described as \u201can immersive tech, art, gaming and music festival that convenes creators from all over the Greater Midwest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now have the ability to teach students these advanced technologies in addition to entrepreneurial thinking including business model canvassing, and key insights and how to raise money for their ventures,\u201d Friedel said. \u201cThis is a powerful combination that will help grow the tech ecosystem in Wisconsin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Disruptive Technologies Lab opened in the spring of 2018, a space that Friedel said was created to help support the emergent regional technology and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Milwaukee. The School of Information Studies plans to expand the lab space as part of a renovation of its home in the Northwest Quadrant over the next couple years.<\/p>\n

Learning on the cutting edge<\/h3>\n

Students get a hands-on approach to developing technologies. For instance, Friedel and graduate student Alexander Breen developed a training cryptocurrency<\/a> at the lab last fall. Cryptocurrency is a form of online payment that can be exchanged for goods and services.
\nThe lab is one of several efforts or collaborations at 51ÁÔÆæ with the goal of producing talent to fill jobs in growing fields. They include:<\/p>\n