Omaha’s vibrant urban core. Photo: iStock
Artificial intelligence can help Omaha-area companies innovate new products and services, increase productivity and streamline operations, says Alec Gorynski, a Greater Omaha Chamber official.
AI is so important to Omaha’s future growth, in fact, that the chamber has launched a new partnership with Omaha’s Scott Data to help break down barriers to tapping this technology.
The goal: making the city the premier destination in the Midwest for AI innovation and adoption.
“Part of the responsibility of the chamber is to have a little foresight in terms of what’s coming down the pike that will impact our economy – and help our businesses see that,”
Alec Gorynski, SVP of Economic Development, Greater Omaha Chamber
Many companies may not be aware of what AI computing can do for their businesses, or they may feel overwhelmed and find it hard to get started. He says the partnership with Scott Data offers a way to help answer their questions, brainstorm ideas and remove potential barriers.
The path to the “Omaha: AI City” initiative began at a College World Series game last June when Gorynski, newly hired to be the chamber’s vice president of economic development, struck up a conversation with Ken Moreano, Scott Data’s CEO.
They talked about Scott Data’s ongoing efforts to add AI computing capacity at its Omaha data center operations. Scott Data now has the infrastructure, equipment and services that make it easier, less expensive and more secure for businesses and organizations to get into artificial intelligence.
Scott Data’s platform includes everything a customer needs to run business critical AI workloads.
Scott Data has invested millions to add banks of AI processors to its secure and reliable facility in the heart of the Aksarben development. It then leases those GPUs to customers along with providing expertise and services. The colocation model spares companies and organizations from buying processors themselves – and from making more capital expenditures to meet their power and cooling infrastructure requirements.
Additionally, Scott Data has recently partnered with a software firm to offer SEEKER, an AI platform that can be an easy-to-use, affordable entry point for companies and organizations starting their AI journey.
SEEKER allows users to uncover insights about their business or organization through AI analysis in a private, encrypted environment. The platform can handle tens of thousands or even millions of pages.
“We just got to talking about all they’re up to,” says Gorynski, recalling last year’s CWS conversation. “It just sparked in both of us that there’s really something here that we should try to leverage.”
Moreano says other cities have AI capability, but Scott Data is set up to help Omaha companies stand out when it comes to adopting advanced computing. Scott Data is a center of AI excellence with a team of experts in machine learning, data science and systems engineering.
“We have been told by others that we are unique in the country in what we do and how we do it,” Moreano says. “It does position us to help establish Omaha as an AI technology hub and also to bring that same awareness into our community.”
Gorynski says AI computing already is starting to be so important to businesses that it might be considered a basic utility. Just as the chamber touts Omaha’s electric power capacity when recruiting new businesses to the area, he says, the city’s impressive AI assets can serve as a similar draw.
“We’ve got a partner in Scott Data that not only has the expertise and the infrastructure, but a willingness to lend that for the benefit of the Omaha community.”
Alec Gorynski, SVP of Economic Development, Greater Omaha Chamber
The new partnership between the Greater Omaha Chamber and Scott Data is aimed at helping existing local businesses, especially small to mid-sized companies, as well as Omaha-area startups. It also will be part of the sales pitch for companies considering a move to Omaha.
The Greater Omaha Chamber hosting foreign trade officials and investors, showcasing the region’s vibrant urban core and its growing ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation. Photo: Greater Omaha Chamber
The chamber regularly holds “growth consultations” with existing companies to understand the challenges they face and their opportunities for growth. Those discussions now will include asking about their AI computing needs and making them aware of the local resources available through Scott Data, Gorynski said.
The process can include discovery sessions to examine and develop customized use cases for integrating AI into businesses. Companies will have access to Scott Data’s technical consulting, and chamber members can receive discounted AI services.
Similarly, startups can tap into Scott Data’s AI incubator service to receive expert technical advising and business support. The data center’s colocation model means customers can tap advanced AI processors at a fraction of the cost of buying the equipment.
Scott Data has provided data services to companies, organizations and the U.S. military for nearly two decades. Its 110,000-square-foot data center in Omaha is certified as Tier III by the Uptime Institute for its reliability and security, and it has never had an outage.
The recent installation of high-speed AI processors at Scott Data was made possible by the center’s robust infrastructure that was able to handle the added demand for power and cooling. Many other colocation data centers have struggled to shift to AI because of those requirements.
Scott Data customers also can be confident in the security and privacy of their valuable data when they use the company’s AI computing platform. Customers can maintain complete control of their sensitive data and keep it isolated from other users.
Scott Data was started by philanthropist Walter Scott Jr. as part of his support for technology and innovation in Omaha, and it is located on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus. While Scott Data’s customers come from all over, Moreano says the nonprofit’s mission fits with its new partnership with the Greater Omaha Chamber to support AI adoption for Omaha-area businesses.
