Agenda 2018

It Takes a Village: Keys to Accelerating innovation

The time when a university could maintain its position as an ivory tower, sprouting great ideas with no follow-up to move those ideas into action, has passed. While the tower shouldn’t be obliterated, it needs to be more open and accessible to increase its impact. In this presentation, Julie Lenzer will draw on her experiences through every aspect of the ecosystem—from local to state to federal and now, to academia—to outline the 3 Ps to accelerating innovation to impact, the role of universities in doing that, and the key elements required to build resilient and responsive ecosystems.

Innovation and entrepreneurship are driving forces for economic and social development around the globe. As President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), Jonathan Ortmans has a front row seat! He and his team operate a platform of programs and projects in 170 countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. In his keynote, Jonathan will share insights and best practices on building one global entrepreneurial ecosystem and fostering deeper international, cross-border collaborations between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations.