That is the question that Innovate Carolina at UNC-Chapel Hill explores in its upcoming best practices report of the same name.
Through in-depth interviews with leaders from 11 university-affiliated innovation hubs across the United States, Innovate Carolina learned that of the pivotal role they play in shaping the future of work by fostering economic growth and equipping workers with skills to navigate technological and workplace transformations. Against a backdrop of evolving technologies such as AI, robotics, virtual reality, and collaboration tools, these hubs are critical for addressing workforce needs and creating ecosystems of innovation that drive economic vibrancy.
Innovate Carolina distilled hours of conversation with hub leaders into best practices across five broad areas that create impact on the future of work. The executive summary lays them out as:
Economic Impact
Hubs leaders indicated they see their future-of-work efforts making an economic impact in a multitude of ways. The most frequently cited were expanding the capacity to conduct research, building entrepreneurial skills, and commercializing research. They measure future-of-work impact through quantitative metrics like numbers of patents, startups, and jobs created. Hubs are increasingly exploring long-term qualitative impacts, such as skill translation and regional economic resilience.
Technology
Innovation hubs most commonly integrate virtual collaboration tools and cloud technologies into their internal business operations, with a growing trend toward using AI. Externally, they talked more about upskilling and reskilling people in more advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), data science tools, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and robotics. Some hubs cite policy and infrastructure challenges to their testing and adopting new tools.
Talent
Entrepreneurial skills are the most common type of skillset hub leaders say they have developed programs to address—and they are heavily embedding ways to build human skills (also known as soft or professional skills) into these programs. Technical skills are the second most frequently cited. Mentorship and access to experts are the two most common modes of skill-building support hubs said they offer.
Workspaces and Work Modes
Innovation hubs are reimagining workspaces to support in-person, hybrid, and remote work. Many feature co-working areas and flexible, tech-enabled environments like makerspaces and prototyping labs to encourage collaboration. Hubs also navigate the challenge of balancing physical infrastructure with the growing demand for remote and hybrid work options.
Partnerships
University hubs are not just expanding the capacity for research or training. They serve as strategic conveners of academic, corporate, and government organizations around regional, state, and national economic priorities. Hubs frequently partner with tech companies on workforce training initiatives and real-estate developers on physical spaces.
Want to learn more? Innovate Carolina will present its findings during a joint webinar with UI Collab on May 14. Register now to engage in the conversation and discover how your organization can benefit from these insights. You can also sign up to receive the report when it’s released.
Melissa Erekson
UI Collab Consultant