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Virginia Tech’s
president, Charles
Steger, announced
his vision of an
IT Institute at
Virginia Tech in
April, 2001, and
as the economy worsened,
as we began our
resolute recovery
from the shock of
September 11th,
and as Virginia
grappled with a
mushrooming fiscal
disaster of its
own, the International
Institute for Information
Technology (IIIT)
at Virginia Tech
was created.
The Institute remains
true to the vision
of President Steger,
providing a focal
point for all that
Virginia Tech does
in IT and serving
as a linkage between
programs. By promoting
interdisciplinary
degree programs
and centers, IIIT
leverages one of
Tech’s great strengths:
the pervasiveness
of IT throughout
the university,
from the core disciplines
in computer science
and engineering
to applied fields
in agriculture,
education, and social
sciences. Internationally,
Virginia Tech’s
programs are also
in demand because
they bridge the
gap between computer
science and business,
programming and
management.
In addition to providing
a link between IT
programs within
Tech, IIIT also
emphasizes the University’s
commitment to applied
research and outreach.
IIIT’s headquarters
in Alexandria, Virginia,
affirms Virginia
Tech’s commitment
to making research
and educational
programs relevant
and useful to Virginia’s
IT industry. “Four
of every five IT
businesses are located
in northern Virginia,
and so are all the
federal agencies,”
says Leonard Ferrari,
Vice Provost for
Special Initiatives
and acting Director
of IIIT, “the opportunities
for collaboration
and the needs here
are enormous. If
we’re serious about
building IT research
programs, we need
to do it here.”
An extended campus
has always been
a critical part
of Virginia Tech
as a land-grant
university and home
to Cooperative Extension:
fifteen graduate,
research and extension
centers dot the
Commonwealth, from
Abingdon to Hampton
Roads and over 130
offices in all,
outside of Blacksburg.
“Especially today,
we need to invest
our resources wisely,”
emphasizes Ferrari.
“The IT Institute
gives us a way to
invest strategically
in IT, putting resources
and faculty where
they’re most needed
and where they will
be the most effective.”
Strategic investment
in IT is IIIT’s
overriding goal.
Based on a five-year
plan developed with
input from over
40 faculty and administrators
representing five
colleges at Virginia
Tech and with input
from business leaders
in northern Virginia,
the IT Institute
was designed to
facilitate investment
in IT across traditional
program areas and
departments. New
positions allocated
through the IT Institute
will each have a
home in an academic
department at Tech
and will support
IT research and
teaching programs.
Currently, IIIT
is working on proposals
for new master’s
degrees in Software
Engineering, Network
Engineering, and
Wireless Engineering
to complement Virginia
Tech’s current Master’s
of Information Technology
certificate and
degree program.
IIIT is also working
to foster emerging
research centers
in areas from the
social analysis
of technology to
the mobile computing,
to geospatial information
technologies.
Look for updates
in future newsletters
on IIIT’s emerging
international programs
and collaborations,
as well as new initiatives
and updates from
collaborating centers.
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