Harrisburg University continues to transform education via entrepreneurship that is producing tomorrow’s leaders and growing the economy.
From a nonprofit that is committed to providing women with more opportunities in the STEM fields, to an educational group that is boosting STEM education in middle schools and high schools, Harrisburg University has founded and partnered with numerous innovative technology and education businesses, clearing an economic path for students, the region, Pennsylvania and the world.
Thought, a start-up company recently launched by HU Technology Professor Andrew Hacker, is a perfect example of the entrepreneurship teeming beneath the roof of HU. In fact, the data intelligence advances the blockchain start-up company has made has generated interest in the national media.
Thought’s mission has fundamentally changed the way data is processed.
By embedding every piece of data with artificial intelligence, otherwise ‘dumb data’ that needs an application to become useful, becomes valuable and ‘smart.’ This means the AI Thought attaches to data allows the digital information to act on its own – understanding where it came from, where it’s supposed to go, and what it has to do. This reduces the need for third-party applications, making data processing a lot cheaper and faster.
The amount of data being created by humans is increasing exponentially with things like social media, and innovations like IoT (Internet of Things) devices.” says the Founder and CEO of Thought, Professor Andrew Hacker. “Traditionally, data just sits around until it is sent to applications that are able to process that information, but Thought makes data agile and able to act on its own without any external help.”
Andrew Hacker
Integrating blockchain technology with this concept creates an extra layer of security on the smallest level. Every piece of data is secured with cryptography, allowing the owners of the data to dictate exactly who has access to it.
Imagine a hospital room where all of the equipment communicates with each other. For example, the thermostat can communicate with the patient’s health record and his/her current health readings from the equipment and find the most optimal room temperature and humidity for this patient. And that’s only the thermostat! You don’t need any third-party applications to make it happen; the information is able to communicate with other pieces of data to make this happen.
In addition to being the Founder and CEO of Thought, Hacker is a Cybersecurity Expert in Residence at Harrisburg University. He has conceived and developed the concept of hybrid and smart data for the last six years. With extensive cybersecurity experience, Andrew has appeared in many publications talking about the ever-increasing importance of security in the age of the Internet.
“Harrisburg University provides world-class science, technology, and analytics education. But we increasingly also support business start-ups and entrepreneurship. Several years ago, we had the opportunity to have Mr. Andrew Hacker, a known expert in cybersecurity, join HU,” said Dr. Eric Darr, President of the Harrisburg University. “Andrew’s technical expertise added greatly to our educational offerings, while his start-up company provided terrific experiential opportunities for our students. We came to believe that Mr. Hacker’s technology had significant promise. Therefore, HU has been pleased to financially support the involvement of many computer science students in the further development of the latest Thought technology. “
Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Harrisburg University is a private non-profit university offering bachelor and graduate degree programs in science, technology, and math fields. For more information on the University’s affordable demand-driven undergraduate and graduate programs, call 717.901.5146 or email, Connect@HarrisburgU.edu.
