Jackson State University (JSU), serving as the lead, and the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) have secured the much-coveted $1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) Engines Development Award. Also referred to as the Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem (SIE) Food Industry Engine Development Award, the NSF Engines Grant has an award period of two years.<\/p>\n
The NSF Engines Grant Award allows JSU and USM to work on \u201cAdvancing food security and climate resilience\u201d with an extensive focus on developing a modern and innovative ecosystem for addressing diverse concerns. Besides working on improving health and nutrition, the joint collaborators will also innovate to reduce poverty and create a talent pool comprising of diverse technical workers. The teams will concentrate on enhancing \u201ceconomic diversity and resilience\u201d across the targeted 41 county region.<\/p>\n
The NSF Engines Grant Award allows JSU and USM to work on \u201cAdvancing food security and climate resilience\u201d with an extensive focus on developing a modern and innovative ecosystem for addressing diverse concerns.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Award is part of the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program, which is a new initiative from the NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP).<\/p>\n
An overview of the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The NSF Regional Innovation Engines program fosters innovation ecosystems across regions in the United States. The goal is to address societal and national challenges while expanding the focus on developing critical technologies, including biotechnology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and advanced wireless. The NSF Engines Development Award is also designed to cultivate and foster partnerships between nonprofits, governments, academia, and civil societies.<\/p>\n
Through grants and encouragement to partnering universities, NSF Engines Development Awards also intends to promote the creation of jobs and stimulate economic growth. The program will promote the growth and sustenance of regional innovation.<\/p>\n
JSU and USM \u00a0have teamed up for promoting research and development to address food security concerns in Mississippi, with a dedicated emphasis on food affordability, accessibility, availability, acceptability, and accommodation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnding Hunger, Improving Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Reducing Diet-Related Diseases and Disparities\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
The White House released its strategic plan for addressing concerns related to food insecurity and diet-related diseases in 2022. The Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem (SIE) Food Industry Development Award intends to address all the major five pillars of the plan, which include – improving food access & availability, integrating nutrition and health, empowering Americans to make better healthy choices, supporting physical activities for people of all age groups, and enhancing Nutrition and Food Security Research.<\/p>\n
Food Insecurity in Mississippi<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mississippi remains the most food-insecure state in the US and available data shows that the poor nutritional health of Mississippians is largely due to food insecurity. The state is also home to some of the most economically challenged counties in the country, with 25 counties being listed for persistent poverty.\u00a0 According to the website of feedingamerica.org, 1 in 6 people in Mississippi face hunger, and these numbers are worse than all other states in the country. The food insecurity rate in Issaquena County in the state, for instance, stands at 40%.<\/p>\n
1 in 6 people in Mississippi face hunger, and these numbers are worse than all other states in the country. The food insecurity rate in Issaquena County in the state, for instance, stands at 40%.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While the SIE Food Industry Development Award will be directed towards improving health outcomes, at the same time, the researchers and collaborators will also look for new ways to create high-quality jobs to address economic concerns in the state. The Award is expected to advance economic equity and improve workforce investment by focusing on small businesses and clustering targeted firms.<\/p>\n
Accelerating research and innovation-based startup economy <\/strong><\/h2>\n
The engine development award funding will provide JSU and USM and JSU to expand and support innovation and create job opportunities in Mississippi with a direct focus on addressing the issue of supplying \u201chealthy, safe, sustainable food\u201d to the masses amidst evolving environmental conditions. The collaboration will strengthen Mississippi\u2019s ability to address climate resiliency and related natural and anthropogenic disasters.<\/p>\n
Building a digital innovation ecosystem to accelerate the growth of food security & climate resilience startups<\/strong><\/h2>\n
USM is using StartupWind\u2019s Unified Innovation & Mentoring platform to build a digital innovation ecosystem for their region with JSU partnering in this effort. With limited resources to create a knowledge-based economy in the state the StartupWind Innovation & Mentoring platform, with its tools, frameworks, and courses makes it easy to create and offer across-the-state startup programs like accelerators, incubators, small business academies, grant programs, challenges, and mentoring programs.<\/p>\n
USM is using StartupWind\u2019s Unified Innovation & Mentoring platform to build a digital innovation ecosystem for their region with JSU partnering in this effort.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
With StartupWInd, universities such as USM and JSU run:<\/p>\n