Hartford Business Journal

10 Hartford Business Journal • August 20, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS: Higher Education UHart, UConn set to launch insurtech curriculum Q&A talks with UConn Busi- ness School professor Timothy Folta and University of Hart- ford Barney School of Business clinical instructor Ken Goldstein about the schools' joint insurtech program. Q. UConn and the University of Hartford's Barney School of Busi- ness recently teamed up to develop undergraduate and graduate cur- ricula geared toward the insurance technology or insurtech sector. What prompted the program? A. The primary inspiration was the opportunity to leverage the momentum with the Hartford Innovation Places insurtech initiative, which is trying to make Hartford a center for insurtech startups. The legwork for that effort revealed a real market need for a new type of human capital for this emerg- ing sector. We are aiming to build that next-generation talent pool, both for the insurance companies in our region that need help integrating new technology into their core business processes, and also for the startups that are moving to Hartford to do business with them. UConn actually started the program in January of this year by partnering students with the 10 startups chosen by Startupbootcamp to participate in an accelerator program. Those intern- ship opportunities set the stage for a much broader initiative that kicks off in earnest in the fall 2018 semester. Q. What does the program entail? A. Well, the program has three compo- nents. The first is a course. The second is experiential learning opportunities in Startupbootcamp ventures or estab- lished insurance companies. The third is a mentoring program, where each student is provided three mentors. Q. What courses will be offered? A. We plan to pilot a graduate- level insurtech venturing class this fall. Building on this experience, we will then develop an undergraduate- level insurtech concepts-and-appli- cations class during spring-summer 2019, with delivery in the fall 2019. The graduate-level course will build skills to be innovators and entrepre- neurs in the insurtech space. Main topics covered include an analysis of traditional insurance and insurtech models; an evaluation of how insurtech companies are being supported and financed (ven- turing); an assessment of required skills to be innovators and entrepreneurs in the insurtech space; consideration of cybersecurity exposures posed by insurtech startups and new technology; and an overview of diverse case studies. Q. What skillsets do insurtechs look- ing for? A. Insurance companies are look- ing for diverse skillsets to help their organizations better understand, mitigate and manage risk through strategic business decisions and data, advanced analytics and other techno- logical innovations. Adjacent skillsets such as project management, artificial intelligence and machine learning, systems integration and architecture, and cyber-security are also in demand Timothy Folta Professor, UConn Business School Ken Goldstein Clinical Instructor, University of Hartford Barney School of Business By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com W hen talking about UConn's Hartford campus, Mark Overmyer-Velazquez bristles at the notion of it being called a satellite to the University of Connecticut's f lagship location in Storrs. Overmyer-Velazquez, the school's campus director, will only call it UConn Hartford. "I think we have our own identity," Overmyer-Velazquez said during an interview in his mezzanine-level office at the former Hartford Times building that now anchors the UConn Hartford campus. "What our academic advan- tage here is being in the capital of the state; being in a thriving urban center." It's been a year since UConn opened its downtown Hartford campus, and so far things look promising. The student body currently consists of about 3,100 undergraduate and graduate students — most from the Hartford area. Enroll- ment is up 33 percent from last year, and the number of students selecting UConn Hartford as their first-choice campus has risen 13 percent, according to UConn. But after spending year one mov- ing into new buildings, and generally getting the campus up and running, Overmyer-Velazquez has a broader vision he'd like to implement. He wants to deepen ties with commu- nity organizations, promote the down- town area as a destination for young people to live and learn, and create an ambitious global urban studies program he hopes will put UConn Hartford on the map in academic circles. It's a tall order, but after the first year, members of downtown Hart- ford's business community are hopeful for the school's success. Foot traffic is up in at least parts of downtown, and the prospect of a sustained injection of college students and young professionals renting, din- ing and shopping in the Front Street and broader downtown area has some neighboring businesses bullish about Broader Vision In year two, UConn Hartford has growth plans, aims for tighter community connections UConn's Hartford campus (shown left and above) is preparing for its second academic school year. Mark Overmyer- Velazquez (left) is the campus director. HBJ PHOTOS | SEAN TEEHAN

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