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Indiana is home to some amazing businesses!

These companies are run by forward-thinking, passionate leaders who consistently generate innovative ideas. It’s how they confront hurdles and leverage opportunities which arise within their industries.

Being open to new ideas and seeing how people in different markets tackle challenges can help you change your business for the better.

The Indiana innovators we’ve included in this article might be from a different industry than yours. Still, you can get inspired by their vision to drive innovation in your organization.

Let’s get started.

Dr. Michael Goldsby About the Creative Side of Bussiness

Dr. Michael Goldsby is the chief entrepreneurship officer of Ball State University, Indiana. He is also the co-author of Innovation Acceleration (Prentice Hall) and the Design Centered Entrepreneurship (Routledge).

He has had a lifetime passion for learning and is confident “big innovation doesn’t always require a big investment upfront“.

For instance, finding a clever way to approach a customer issue your competitors are neglecting can help unleash tremendous business opportunities. The financial investment needed in the future can come from that.

In the long run, creativity doubled by hard work can offer significant financial rewards.

It’s an essential lesson all entrepreneurs should be mindful of. Regardless of the type or size of your business, using a creative mindset to tackle challenges and welcome opportunities is an asset.

Brian Graham About the Importance of Embracing Growth

President and founder of Four Day Ray Brewing, Brian Graham has about nine years of experience owning, managing, operating and selling restaurants. He’s also worked in marketing and sales.

One of the most valuable lessons he’s learned along the way is you should never assume you know it all. As the former owner of Dick’s Bodacious BBQ/Hot Shotz, Brian ended up going bankrupt.

Looking back, he came to realize his failure was an unfortunate result of poor choices and lack of experience.

However, proving it is possible to learn from your mistakes, adjust your approach and build a better, stronger business, Brian went from failure to success.

And as most successful Indiana innovators, Brian Graham learned it’s essential to keep up with the times and adapt when the facts about your industry change.

Jim Ittenbach About Understanding Consumer Dynamic

Jim founded SMARI, a custom market research company based in Indianapolis. As he said in this interview, one of the main forces behind SMARI is a desire to understand “the motivating mysteries driving consumerism”.

Jim realized pretty early in his career it is crucial to invite the consumer to engage whenever you have to deal with go-to-market decision making.

It’s an essential lesson everybody who is interested in growing their organizations should learn sooner rather than later.

The most efficient way to deliver a meaningful and rewarding experience for your clients is to base your decisions on relevant, researched data about them.

What Do All These Indiana Innovators Have in Common?

Indiana has a culture of innovation. There are a lot of great ideas being born here, but unfortunately, not enough people get to find out about them.

We think it’s something that should change. That’s one of the main reasons behind the PIVOT conference, an Indiana-based event for entrepreneurs, business and community leaders looking to drive innovation in their organizations.

We’re honored to say all the Indiana innovators mentioned in this article were a part of the 2016 edition.

You can watch a short recap of the event here.

We’re planning a 2017 edition, so make sure to keep an eye on our site for more upcoming details about the event!

State and local government networks generate and operate with a wide array of sensitive information, such as:

citizen records including bank information
information about government organizations & processes
municipal employee records

That makes them an attractive target for cybercriminals who profit from stealing and exploiting that data.

The cybersecurity challenges facing local governments are more prominent than ever. Here are five of the most prevalent ones:

1. Attacks Becoming Increasingly More Sophisticated

Cyber attackers continually expand their knowledge and their arsenal.

We’ve seen how their tactics have evolved and adapted to exploit any vulnerability. And there’s no sign pointing to cyber criminals suddenly taking a break.

In fact, we’ve seen examples of them working together to plan coordinated, complex attacks against a common target.

What happens when local governments misperceive the potential complexity of a cyber-attack? Sensitive data becomes vulnerable.

2. Lack of Financial Resources to Tackle Cybersecurity Challenges

Just like a business, local governments have to work within limits imposed by their available budget.

Cyber-attacks have increased not only in frequency but also in terms of sophistication. Still, municipalities’ efforts to fight against them are severely underfunded.

The average state or local government agency spends less than 5% of its IT budget on cybersecurity.

Compared to large enterprises, local governments spend significantly less on protecting their data. But face the same kind of risks. You can see why this is a major problem.

The lack of budget often comes with a lack of skills, a topic we’ll discuss more in-depth in the following lines.

3. Handle the Problem of Insufficient and Untrained Staff

A major cybersecurity issue local governments face is finding the brainpower needed to protect data.

The human factor is often misperceived and minimized as importance when in reality it’s a crucial element.

Data security starts with the people handling sensitive data.

Someone who doesn’t have appropriate security skills can unintentionally create vulnerabilities within a network. And thus make it much easier for a hacker to access data.

Training requires additional costs, something that doesn’t fair well with a limited budget.

An alternative to in-house staff and training is hiring a cyber security professional that can offer an all-around solution.

4. Recovering after a Data Breach

Safeguarding sensitive data is one of the main challenges municipalities have to face.

When cities and counties fail to secure sensitive data, citizens suffer direct harm.

It’s not a coincidence that The 2016 Cybersecurity Survey by NASCIO lists security as the number one priority for government CIOs (State Chief Information Security Officers).

But it’s not only important to know how to prevent a cyber-attack. Organizations need to be able to expect an attack and think about the best ways to recover from it.

And this can be quite a challenge.

It’s better to assume an attack is going to happen and prepare for the eventuality than be caught off-guard.

5. Adapting to an Ever-Changing Security Landscape

Maybe one of the biggest cybersecurity challenges concerns the basic nature of cyberspace. This environment is constantly evolving. And with change comes a new set of challenges.

When it comes to cybersecurity, municipalities can’t actually see the enemy. But the threat is real, and it often shifts its form.

So how can municipalities turn these cybersecurity challenges into progress?

By improving their cyber-supported infrastructures, as well as the associated internal processes. That, combined with increased awareness gives them the best chances to fight against today’s obstacles.

However, assuming required technical and procedural safeguards may be a challenge in itself. We can make the entire process a lot easier. Get in touch with us today and learn more about the municipal cyber-defense services we provide.

Do you think the focus points of this article are relevant for describing today’s cybersecurity hurdles? Make sure to share the information with others.

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Top Indiana Innovators and What Important Lessons You Can Learn from Them