UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION WORKSHOP: Creating an Environment to Enhance the Innovation Ecosystem

Universities are innovation engines that positively impact the regional innovation ecosystem. This impact is realized through the research and teaching functions of the university and increasingly, the university’s ability to enable commercialization of innovations developed by its faculty, students, and staff i.e. its desorptive capacity.

Desorptive capacity is enhanced when university administration understands the commercialization process and the factors that influence it. This series of workshops incorporates design thinking to solve problems, create growth strategies, build capacity, and understand the fundamentals of technology transfer, marketing, partnerships, collaborations, and new venture development.

WORKSHOPS target university administration, deans and department chairs. The series provides the fundamentals and tools for creating a culture that fosters innovation and commercialization. Each session generally runs 1.5-3.5 hours depending on content and site requirements.

• Workshop I: Open Innovation and Creative Workspaces

Create an environment that fosters innovation by creating interplay between knowledge and knowing. Open Innovation and Creative Workspaces help develop multidisciplinary teams and foster knowledge creation through interaction, practice, and experimentation. Learn how to leverage Open Innovation and Creative Workspace principles in your organization.

• Workshop II: Creative Design Thinking: Innovative Solutions to Complex Challenges

Design-led companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, IBM, and Nike have adopted design thinking and have outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 10 years by an extraordinary 219%. Apple, for example has used this approach to revolutionize an entire industry sector and establish an enviable competitive advantage. Design thinking is a fundamental and powerful approach to address complex problems, drive innovation, create strategy, and generate change. This course provides a hands-on approach to build a creative university culture that sparks inspiration and collaboration to enhance the local innovation ecosystem.

• Workshop III: Knowledge Acquisition, Use, and Management for Development

For senior management, this course explores the strategic value and focus of Knowledge Management in their organization. It will enable them to put a knowledge management plan into place for projects within their organization, ensuring it will create benefits by acquisition of a full knowledge database. It will also introduce methods to create knowledge retention strategies as key knowledge-holders leave your organization, and to capture lessons-learned for continued development.

• Workshop IV: Setting Innovation Strategies for Research Institutions and Centers

Universities foster innovation in many ways. Establishing and maintaining programs to fund projects with the potential for generating commercially applicable innovations is vitally important to positively impact on the innovation ecosystem. Universities across the world have adopted strategies that enhance their capacity to work with entrepreneurs and industry. These range from policies, technology gap funds, and investment funds to address industry problems and provide industry access to specialized facilities. The strategies are specific to a region and take in to account the needs of the existing innovation ecosystem, with the goal to enhance and create additional capacity.

• Workshop V: Partnerships and Alliances

Increasing capacity and enhancing the innovation ecosystem requires organizations to partner and collaborate with industry and other institutions. These partnerships and alliances increase access to a global network, enhance the innovation ecosystem, increase the visibility and prestige of the university, and can serve to attract additional talent. However, these types of arrangements need to fulfill the strategic objectives of the organization. Understanding the elements of partnering or creating an alliance, the resources that need to be allocated by each party, and the objectives of each party that are the basis of a successful joint venture.