The Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, housed at the University of North Carolina, US, conducts research, provides outreach and education and offers strategic support to companies and communities in the areas of entrepreneurship, economic development and global competitiveness - all three relate directly to commercial aviation.
 
Accordingly, two of the institute's eight centres, the Center for Air Commerce and the Center for Logistics and Digital Strategy, specialise in aviation-related issues.
Dr John Kasarda, who is Kenan Institute's director and holds the title of distinguished professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, leads the Center for Air Commerce (CAC). 

Kasarda is a leading developer of the aerotropolis concept, which outlines how the speed, agility, and connectivity advantages of air transportation can be enhanced for firm competitiveness and regional economic growth by increasing the efficiency of the ground portion of air journeys through improved ground transportation, adapted land use, efficient public administration and sound business management.

Time-sensitive manufacturing, distribution, and business services are among the most impacted industries, leading, in turn, to accelerated growth in the hotel, entertainment, retail, convention, trade and exhibition sectors.


The CAC consults on projects dealing with all aspects of airport cities and aerotropolises, including:

     "ó    Strategic planning for aerotropolis and regional development
     "ó    Competitiveness analysis and aerotropolis benchmarking
     "ó    Airport and aerotropolis governance
     "ó    Developing airport non-aeronautical revenues,
     "ó    Airport area land use planning and real estate development.

The CAC helps clients build competitive aviation-enabled economies that leverage global opportunities for economic benefit. Clients include airports, airport area development agencies, governments, and real estate developers in the US, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Kasarda and his fellow CAC faculty member Dr Stephen Appold have more than 50 published articles about airport cities, the aerotropolis, and related air commerce topics.

They have given more than 100 presentations on airport cities and the aerotropolis model to industry leaders, government representatives, and corporate participants. Kasarda's book on the subject, Aerotropolis, is co-authored by Greg Lindsay and will be published in early 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

The Center for Logistics and Digital Strategy (CLDS), led by Dr Noel Greis, researches new intelligent technologies, which operate in the web-enabled information environment and allow virtual integration of the extended global enterprise in a way not feasible before the advent of the electronic age.

In the centre's Intelligent Systems Laboratory (ISL), experts are able to develop customised logistics solutions that meet an organisation's distinct competitive needs and assess the benefits of these new technologies and offer a roadmap for implementation.
The CLDS works closely with the CAC to research and solve complex queries in the aerospace and transportation industries.


The CLDS brings intelligent technologies to a broad range of enterprise applications including:

     "ó    Adaptive business processes and workflows
     "ó    Dynamic resource management
     "ó    Global enterprise design coordination
     "ó    Materials transport synchronisation
     "ó    Intelligent decision support
     "ó    Logistics cost management
     "ó    Event-driven planning and scheduling
     "ó    Secure supply chains
     "ó    Operations in emerging markets.

The CLDS helps clients build intelligent logistics processes that enable synchronised control over the extended global enterprise. Clients include companies in the aerospace, electronics transportation, automotive and defence industries - complex industries that share a need to create intelligent visibility over the extended global, as well as governments.

In 2006, the CLDS and Tsinghua University established the Kenan-Tsinghua Center for Logistics and Economic Development - a joint research centre in logistics.

Tsinghua University is considered the MIT of China and the partnership positions both organisations as leaders in logistics for emerging global markets. The joint centre focuses on logistics and global supply-chain management research that enhances trade between the United States and China, supporting economic development and addressing issues such as offshore outsourcing.