INSIGHTS FROM US TRIP

AUGUST 2016

creative.uts.edu.au

WHO I VISITED

Virginia Tech

• Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology

• Apex Systems Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Innovate Living-Learning Community

Harvard

• Harvard iLab

• Shorestein Institute for Media, Politics and Public Policy (Kennedy School

of Govt)

• Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society

AND…

MIT

• MIT Media Lab

• Martin Trust Centre for Entrepreneurship

• MIT Collective Intelligence Centre

• SENSEable City Labs

Code for Boston (part of Code for America)

MassChallenge

SOME INSIGHTS

Artwork by Joe Kelley at Virginia Tech Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology exhibition

UNI INNOVATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS

Is there a message in here?

UNI INNOVATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS

- Located in Business, Engineering or under Provost or VC directly

- Range of approaches to entrepreneurship – some very hands on programs others rely on students to initiate and run with virtual wallet/points

- Team size range 2-17 some also doing research

- Most funding centrally provided with supplements from faculty prizes, places or industry places in incubators. US strong alumni, industry funding

- Harvard and MIT innovations labs open to all students undergrad and grad can attend courses, events

- Common challenges; gender balance, scaling up quantity without losing quality, coordinating strategy across university

UNI INNOVATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS

- US strong alumni networks especially with entrepreneurs. Strong culture of ‘pay in forward’

- Advisory boards some Deans/senior uni exec, others completely external alumni/industry others mixed

- Special status for entrepreneurs; flexibility in completing studies, can do internships in own startups, starters wallet

- Integration of prototyping or mini maker spaces

- Micro business challenges – 3 weeks 10 pounds

- Models staff/researchers spinouts negotiate IP with uni

- Mostly extracurricular. Model of visible and invisible curriculum

- Entrepreneurship as attitude start in early schooling – make it fun

VIRGINIA TECH APPROACH

VIRGINIA TECH APPROACH

- Live in residential program (2 years)

- Focus on talent development not startups

- Strong alumni entrepreneurship

- Visiting entrepreneurs in residence – 2-3 days living in

- Entrepreneur treks

- Network of Investors, $2m available last year each investor has to commit

$10k

- Network of advisors

- External alumni and industry advisory board

- Support for student startups next steps in adjacent Corporate Research

Centre – whole economic ecosystem around uni

HARVARD APPROACH

HARVARD APPROACH

- Harvard iLab open drop in/working space for students interested in

entrepreneurship

- iLab began 2011 LaunchLab 2014

- Open to any current student undergrad or postgrad

- Run events, masterclasses, some faculties run their innovation subjects

there

- Accelerator program VIP program each team has a board get up

- Competitions

- LaunchLab ‘curated community’ 30 alumni startups coworking space can

stay up to 2 years

- Large no wealthy donors and alumni

- Deans on Advisory board. ‘One Harvard’ campaign

- Building Living Lab – wet lab for innovation

MIT APPROACH

MIT APPROACH

- Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship

- Open access space for all students. Workshops, events, hackathons

- GPSA accelerator program. 17 teams each has a board and access to

$20,000 if meet milestones as judged by board. Bill Arlet program

- Final pitches MIT, New York, San Francisco

- Shorter summer program 1 month

- MIT Launch high schools program and free online course

- 4 entrepreneur in residence’s run the programming

- Mix undergrad, grad and PhD

- New team ‘MIT Innovation Initiative’ pulling together coordinated

approach/strategy

RESEARCH

VT INSTITUTE FOR CREATVITY, ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY

- Research institutes work across all faculties

- 3 labs including the Cube 4 story immersive 3D space

- SEAD funding rounds - $500 students, $3000 interdisciplinary teams,

$25,000 flagship project plus access to labs and facilities

- Coffee mornings once a week where someone talk about their project

- CubeFest series of events/showcases

- a2ru transdisiplinary research publication/installations etc

- VR collaboration

SENSEABLE CITY LABS

Effect digital tech on urban environment and how changes the way people

live in cities

SENSEABLE CITY LABS

- Spin out from MIT Media lab

- Funded through research grants and industry

- Consortium model for companies. 3 year commitment set price for seat at

table, access to IP, marketing

- Can sponsor additional research per year for 2 research fellows

- Can’t direct research but can identify challenge or problem

- Have option to commercialise IP through MIT

- Companies Philips, Audi, Uber etc

- Fellowships and student placements

MIT MEDIA LAB

MIT MEDIA LAB

MIT MEDIA LAB

MIT MEDIA LAB

- Interdisciplinary research lab founded 1985

- High level autonomy from university thanks to Nicholas Negroponte

- 100% industry funded

- 15 labs each headed by a professor

- Sponsors fund general themes

- Can’t direct research but have access to IP created

- ‘Inventing a better future’ is current theme

- Online courses open to any students internationally, finding collaborators

- Blockchain hacks

WHAT IS UTS POINT OF DIFFERENCE- Strong focus on creative practice and methodology

- Documented ICI strategy

- BCII students – secret weapon

- Social impact/enterprise focus

- Cultural difference more relaxed focus on quality of life

- Lifestyle, beaches, attitude

- Gateway to Asia and significant Asian population for testing/prototyping

DIGITAL CIVICS

DIGITAL CIVICS

- Collective intelligence Centre – Solve Colab

- New kind of intelligence that scales. How to measure crowd intelligence?

- Govt Singapore – future scanning

- Code for Boston/Code for Australia

- Reinventing media, sustainability fourth estate

- Blockchain identity management refugees, stateless people

- Reinventing public institutions

- Politics is broken – how to fix it?

OPPORTUNITIES/IDEAS

OPPORTUNITIES/IDEAS

- International student program residential opportunity

- ‘Cluster X’ fund teams for cross disciplinary projects, practitioner/faculty

partnership projects

- Blockchain hack collaboration MIT Media Lab

- a2ru transdisciplinary publishing

- MIT REAP

- Investor networks

- Mapping visible and invisible curricular/student user journeys

- MassChallenge Bridge program in Australia

And we won….