Technology Assessment Division

Industries of the Future

The mission of the "Louisiana Industries of the Future Teams"(LIFT) programwas to facilitate technology development and transfer from Louisiana's academic institutions and the national laboratories to Louisiana industries so they become more competitive due to decreased costs, increased energy efficiency, and reduced waste.

LIFTwas a Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources sponsored project based upon the award of grants from US Department of Energy, Office of Industrial Technology. The Industries of the Future Program (IOF) project was a strategy which created industry specific steering committees to accelerate technology research, development, and deployment that industry decided was needed to make them more globally competitive. These work groups were composed of industry and academic representatives. The national Industries of the Future program also developed state IOF programs to identify state or region specific approaches, share information and technology and identify priorities in individuals states.

As environmental compliance costs increased and the government's research and development spending declined, the focus of federal research and development was being directed toward benefitting energy intensive industries. Nationally, government partnered with these industries to develop technology road maps outlining each industry's vision of goals for the year 2020 and the technology required to reach these goals. There were nine energy intensive industries included in the national Industries of the Future Program: agriculture, aluminum, chemicals, forest products, glass, metal casting, mining, petroleum refining, and steel. Of these nine Louisiana has five of them: agriculture, chemicals, forest products, mining, and petroleum refining.

LIFT established industry specific steering teams to develop statewide goals and technology roadmaps to guide academic and government research activities to meet Louisiana's industrial needs. This partnership of industry, academia, and government identified industry's common needs, sought solutions and exchanged ideas.