The Pacific International Center for High Technology Research (PICHTR) was established by the 1983 Legislature and, originally managed within the University of Hawaii for administrative purposes, was incorporated in 1985 as an independent Hawaii-based not-for-profit.

PICHTR’S VISION

Become a leader in planning, development, evaluation and deployment of place-based sustainable practices to facilitate their adoption and implementation throughout Hawaii and Asia Pacific.

What we do

Contract management

Winning contracts is great. The right contract can change the trajectory of a company. But managing contracts – public-sector and private-sector contracts – can be painful. We deal with the red tape involved in contract management so companies can focus all their resources on building their businesses. We take care of everything from accounting processes to financial systems to administrative procedures.

Tech to market

Turning big ideas into commercial successes is hard work. Through our partnerships with dozens of federal and state agencies, and large companies throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim, we have established an ecosystem that is helping hundreds of entrepreneurs in Hawaii secure funding, develop innovative technologies and bring those technologies to market.

Training & consulting

Success requires more than a big idea. It requires preparation. That’s why we provide expert training to companies in industries as diverse as agriculture, clean energy, health information systems, and many others. In addition to customized training and consulting, we facilitate valuable networking – introductions to government, business, academic and non-profit leaders – throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Our fields of focus

Climate change adaptation

PICHTR’s Climate Adaptation Collective project proactively tackles barriers to climate change adaptation by providing capacity building and advocacy to decision-makers and the general public in order to enable forward progress on the most critical climate change adaptation initiatives of our time. We see proactive climate change adaptation as an opportunity for a more resilient and economically strong Hawaii.

Clean energy

A significant portion of PICHTR’s effort to develop new technologies is focused on clean energy. PICHTR is helping Hawaii meet strict state government mandates to increase the use of clean energy.

One example of PICHTR’s work in this area is the Energy Excelerator partnership with Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO). Energy storage provider Stem was granted $1 million in funding to deploy a 1-megawatt battery storage pilot to demonstrate how distributed storage can help utility companies comply with Hawaii’s mandate to utilize 100% clean energy by 2045. HECO believes distributed battery systems from providers like Stem can accelerate the integration of clean energy sources into the electric grid.

Technology

The PICHTR staff has a wealth of expertise in the commercialization of new technologies, business development, technology investment, federal initiatives, and other related aspects of bringing new technologies to market. Through mentoring, training, and commercialization assistance programs, we help companies navigate from startup to market entrance. We have helped hundreds of companies leverage government- and corporate-funded programs into successful business ventures.

Healthcare

As the U.S. population ages, healthcare is becoming an increasingly strategic issue that must be addressed. Healthcare is also an industry that aligns with PICHTR’s mission and expertise. PICHTR has supported numerous projects aimed at increasing accessibility to healthcare in Hawaii, and bringing innovative healthcare solutions to market. One of PICHTR’s most prominent healthcare efforts was the Hawaii Health Information Exchange (Hawaii HIE). It was a non-profit initiative that brought together healthcare stakeholders in Hawaii to improve healthcare delivery throughout the state through a seamless and safe health information exchange.

Disaster preparedness

The National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC) is a core project at PICHTR. The NDPTC recently completed a large-scale, nationwide survey to understand concerns about, and gaps in, current disaster preparedness. Survey respondents indicated the top three unmet training needs were related to natural disasters. These needs included risk assessment, mitigation, and response and recovery.

Survey respondents voiced concerns that the public is largely unprepared and has unrealistic expectations of the government’s capacity to respond to natural disasters. Many survey respondents advocated for the inclusion of non-governmental organizations in trainings, and to increase training around public communication and awareness.

Resource conservation

Conserving Hawaii’s precious natural resources is critical to the future of our island home. PICHTR’s resource conservation work ranges from agriculture initiatives to endangered species protection to the maintenance of important cultural resources. Working with the U.S. Army, PICHTR has coordinated efforts to protect the habitats of native plants and animals through the Oahu Army Natural Resource Program, and provided archaeological expertise to identify and preserve historic cultural sites.

PICHTR provides funding and support for Elemental Excelerator, a growth accelerator working with innovative agriculture companies to develop biodiesel, pasture management and other farming opportunities to promote resource sustainability in Hawaii. Past agriculture initiatives include the Biosystems Technology Program and Agriculture-Based Remediation Program.