Now this is a powerful, slightly frightening partnership: According to the Hopkins Hub, Johns Hopkins University and Google have pledged to work together on new technology projects.
The pact is between the university and the tech giant’s Advanced Technology and Products (ATAP) group, and its goal is to make sure new technology is made quick use of–and that new products featuring new technology can make it to the market quickly. And as you may have guessed, Google will provide funding, and Hopkins will provide computer scientists.
The idea here is that researchers who rely on government grants or private money have to wait a long time between the grant application and when the money actually shows up. The whole process moves at a stately, academic pace. And then there’s the fact that research funding declined dramatically during the recent recession, and remained a point of contention during debt deal talks; in other words, researchers relying on federal funding can no longer expect to have an easy time getting federal funding. But with Google on board, Hopkins researchers will be able to get approval for joint tech projects in as little as 30 days. Other brainy schools, including MIT, Stanford, Virginia Tech, and Texas A&M, are also involved in the initiative.
