• CEnIT will be a catalyst enabling a community of faculty, students, and external partners to produce innovations in IT and entrepreneurship that enhance the regional economy.

Mission Statement:

• Enhancing the education of students in Information Technology and Entrepreneurship;
  
  
• Promoting the development and commercialization of Information technologies generated by university faculty and students;



• Providing leadership in Entrepreneurship and Information Technology outreach activities that will support economic development in the state.

In 2001, with prompting from the Governor, The Louisiana legislature approved $22 million in new, recurring funding for an Information Technology (IT) Initiative that is aimed at driving economic development throughout the state.  Governor Foster proposed this initiative to complement Louisiana: Vision 2020, the state's master plan for economic development, which calls for advancement in key technology industries.  Higher education has been identified as the driver for economic development in the IT arena, so the Louisiana Board of Regents is directing the investment of these funds. 

Louisiana Tech University proposed that the College of Engineering and Science (COES) and the College of Administration and Business (CAB) establish an interdisciplinary center to focus the talents and resources of the two colleges and their related centers in advancing entrepreneurial research, education and technology transfer.  The Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology (CEnIT) was created in the Fall of 2001 in response to this state initiative.  The majority of the funds from the state's IT Initiative have been split among the state's five designated research universities with Louisiana Tech receiving just over $2 million.  CEnIT was approved by the University of Louisiana Board of Supervisors and the Board of Regents in the Fall of 2002

Louisiana Tech University is putting the State's IT Initiative to work to create a more productive relationship between the university, its technologically gifted students, and the Louisiana business community.  The CEnIT Innovation Lab is a 3,000-square-foot facility in the most visible location on the Tech campus -- on the main floor of the student center.  Future plans are to expand this to a 30,000-square-foot facility when the Visual Arts building is renovated.  The facility will enable faculty and students from both colleges to work together daily, including integration through joint courses, research projects and outreach activities.

Louisiana Tech University recognizes that the Internet has changed everything in business, including the roles of engineers within the corporate world.  The online business model requires that engineers and scientists must also be conversant in the language of business.  Teaching students to be successful in this technological environment requires new approaches.  CEnIT is using this opportunity to provide a rich entrepreneurship-focused learning environment, thereby increasing the marketability of its graduates and enhancing the opportunities for economic growth in Louisiana.