PLENARY SESSIONS
Nurturing Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Academia Dr. James Weis presented some global trends democratizing capacity for innovation. He started his explanation by showing examples that would illustrate Moore’s law such as the increasing storage capacity of computers and the increasing total word count of Wikipedia over the years. The Internet of Things also shows that today, billions of devices can be interconnected. The technology today is quickly advancing that you can even order human genome with your phone. Dr. James Weis mentioned that we are living in a uniquely exciting time. However, one must note that resources are not synonymous with innovation. Innovation is all about the culture they create to encourage people to be innovative and creative.
James Weiss Speaker
The speaker also pointed out that innovation varies enormously between institutions. He said that the majority of research organizations contribute very little to overall technology transfer— regardless of how that commercialization activity is measured. Hence, he emphasized that commercialization is not equal to technology transfer. Dr. James Weis also discussed that a meta-entrepreneurial approach is important to facilitate innovation, where organizations will be built. To do this, an engineering approach must be taken. Below are the guiding steps: 1) identify bottlenecks to innovation; 2) leverage existing resources; 3) align incentives between related parties; 4) nurture new initiatives; and 5) address bottlenecks that stifle innovation. Lastly, the speaker cited some organizations that were built to nurture innovation such as the MIT Biotech Group which houses Synapse, the MIT Biotech Group; REB, research experience in biopharma; and the MIT Alumni Angels of Boston Life Sciences Track. He also mentioned Nest Bio which develops innovation through research, labs, and ventures.
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