Nov. 3, 2022 - Northern Kentucky University, in partnership with Global Business Solutions, officially opened the GBS Tech and Innovation Center on Wednesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in NKU’s Campbell Hall, the site of the center.
"Global Business Solutions has been an outstanding community partner for NKU, offering opportunities for our students to excel, both in and out of the classroom,” NKU President Ashish Vaidya said. “The GBS Technology and Innovation Center will allow our students to take advantage of unique opportunities and gain real-world experience working with leading IT experts, so they are ready for success in our tech-enabled world.”
By opening an on-campus extension of their Newport-based headquarters, GBS is doubling down on its commitment to provide NKU students with real-world experience, top-of-class information technology (IT), cybersecurity and sales & marketing training. The GBS Tech and Innovation Center will be a training ground for NKU’s cybersecurity and IT students. Through paid internship positions, students will gain the IT-based software, hardware and client-support knowledge Greater Cincinnati’s technology jobs require.
For GBS Service Desk Manager Phil Toombs, who will serve as a manager and mentor for students, the GBS Tech and Innovation Center will also help the Greater Cincinnati area retain its top talent coming out of NKU.
“Our long-standing relationships we have here in the Tri-State, the number of Fortune 500 companies we have, the international connections that students can make here without leaving the area, is one of the biggest impacts we want to show them,” Toombs said. “A lot of times, students think start-up or Fortune 500. There’s still everything in between. We are going to give them exposure to see all the different variables there are in the IT world.”
GBS founder, Gaby Batshoun, is an NKU alum from the Class of 1992. He founded GBS in 1994 to put his passion for IT and cybersecurity into practice—serving the small and mid-sized firms here in Cincinnati. Mr. Batshoun was also featured in the latest issue of NKU Magazine. You can find more about him by checking out the feature online.
“NKU has always been close to my heart, and I want to give back and show the students that if you work hard and if you put in the effort, you can achieve all kind of things,” Batshoun said. “My vision was always how can we invest more in our area and regional needs to make sure that we prepare these students for real world applications but also keep them in our area and invest in our area and help make it a better place to live. The GBS Tech and Innovation Center will help us achieve that vision.”
The GBS Tech and Innovation Center is just the latest example of NKU’s commitment to excellence in innovation and real-world experience for our students. Earlier this year, NKU opened with Verst Logistics Hub for Supply Chain Excellence, which allows students and alumni an opportunity to connect and engages with businesses involved in the growing field of supply chain management. NKU also opened the Western & Southern Contact Center in March 2022, which provides an employment opportunity for students in conjunction with a partnership with Western & Southern.
These partnerships and initiatives earned Northern Kentucky University an unique recognition of being named one of the most innovative universities in the world. According to World’s Universities with Real Impact (WURI), NKU ranked 78th in the Global Top 100 for most innovative colleges and universities. When broken down into categories, the report also ranked NKU 17th globally in entrepreneurial spirit.
For more information on NKU’s efforts in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship, visit the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship website.
About GBS: Global Business Solutions, Inc., is a leading integrator of IT-centric solutions for business. Its team of certified experts design, deploy, manage and secure the technologies at the heart of all business operations. GBS is focused on accelerating organization-wide productivity through technology solutions.
About NKU: Founded in 1968, NKU is an entrepreneurial state university of over 16,000 students served by more than 2,000 faculty and staff on a thriving suburban campus nestled between Highland Heights, Kentucky and bustling downtown Cincinnati. We are a regionally engaged university committed to empowering our students to have fulfilling careers and meaningful lives. While we are one of the fastest-growing universities in Kentucky, our professors still know our students' names. For more information, visit nku.edu.
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