A Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL) representative told a group of about 40 local technology businesses Wednesday that Tulsa is poised to become a pioneer in the advanced mobility industry.

Louie Napoleone, director of local business partnerships for TIL, was the special guest at the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Technology Council meeting at AmericanSolera brewery.

Last October, the federal government named Tulsa a “Tech Hub,” a designation that opens the door to up to $75 million in federal funding for the Tulsa Hub for Equitable & Trustworthy Autonomy (THETA), a consortium led by Tulsa Innovation Labs.

“We are going to become a leader in the autonomous system sector,” Napoleone said. “Most important, I think, are these kinds of conversations. We need to engage our stakeholders at a higher level. We need to include all those communities and industries.

“It’s completely imperative that everybody’s at the table, that everybody is participating, interacting and also providing feedback.”

THETA will focus its work on such technologies as unmanned aerial systems, drones, cybersecurity and generative artificial intelligence.

With the Tech Hubs distinction, the Tulsa region hopes to capture $4 billion of the $1.36 trillion global autonomous systems market, with the goal of creating nearly 200,000 new jobs in the next decade, according to TIL.

Through THETA’s intentional focus on equity, Tulsa will have an opportunity to add 66,000 women and 39,000 Black, Latinx, and Native American workers to the region’s workforce in autonomous systems-related occupations, with wages $7,000 higher than the regional average.

“We are a global city; we are not a flyover city,” Napoleone said. “People are going to start coming to this destination because this is where business is going to be happening, particularly with this industry.”

The Tech Council’s last meeting of the year is scheduled for Dec. 11. For more information about the council, contact Angie Zaricor, a senior director of economic development with the Chamber, at 918-560-0214.