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On January 27, Governor Deval Patrick challenged the region's IT/digital sector to create a collaborative approach to improve its global competitiveness. Read more about the project -- and join the conversation!

Posts Tagged ‘Innovation’

Innovation Events in MA

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Here are some events happening around MA in the coming weeks.  Share your experiences by commenting, tweeting, or emailing about innovation in MA. Have fun!


OpenCoffee Cambridge MeetUp http://bit.ly/b64n

Date: Wednesday, December 2 at 8:30am
Description: Fellow web entrepreneurs and VCs gather once a week in Cambridge, MA to grab some coffee, free WiFi, and chat about what’s new. Around the world, tech entrepreneurs and investors are meeting regularly to drink coffee, network and hopefully do deals. No more of the old-school “please send us your executive summary before we’ll even talk to you”. A place to find opportunities.
Location: Andala Coffee in Cambridge, MA
Cost: Free

Aneesh Chopra: Innovation for America http://bit.ly/6MLEV9

Date: Wednesday, December 2 at 6pm
Description: Aneesh Chopra - Assistant to the President and Chief Technology Officer
Topic - “ Innovation for America: Restoring Growth, Reforming Government, Fixing Health Care, and Expanding Opportunity”
Location: Burllington, MA
Cost: $15 - $35

Ignite Spatial: Boston http://isb09.eventbrite.com/

Date: Wednesday, December 2 at 6:30pm
Description: Ignite Spatial: Boston is an Ignite event with a spatial twist. If you had five minutes on stage to talk spatial, what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers.
Location: Boston, MA
Cost: Free

MassTLC Summit: The Future of Robotics http://bit.ly/1abTjJ

Date: Tuesday, December 8 at 8:30am
Description: Join New England’s leading robotic research institutions for an unprecedented look at the future of robotics. The summit will begin with remarks from the Massachusetts Secretary for Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki. Our research briefing will include a dozen labs and culminate with a presentation on technology transfer opportunities. For those interested, there will be tours of seven Robotics Labs at MIT following lunch. Attendees from academia, government, and the private sector will learn firsthand about the latest research coming down the pipeline and opportunities for partnership and commercialization.
Location: Cambridge, MA
Cost: $40 - $80

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Posted in Innovation, What's on | No Comments » add yours

Innovation is Our Future

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Pat Larkin, Director of MTC’s John Adams Innovation Institute writes about innovation in the region for Commonwealth Conversations: Mass Innovations. 

Thanks to our long tradition of innovation and our vibrant innovation ecosystem, Massachusetts has benefited disproportionately from this country’s innovation infrastructure. Our universities, companies, entrepreneurs, and financiers, on their own, without a grand plan, and through their own drive, have made Massachusetts one of the world’s foremost environments for innovation. Their presence here attracts bright people and billions of dollars of investment every year. Their presence fuels an ongoing reinvention of our economy… Read more here.

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Posted in Blog, Communication, Innovation | No Comments » add yours

Innovation – We have it! Boston ranked #1

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

A study of the most innovative cities in the world was released today ranking Boston as the number one most innovative city in the world

The study, conducted by Melbourne (Aus) based global innovation organization 2thinknow, investigated 162 performance indicators for an Innovation City.

These innovation indicators represent a broad view of innovation in the economy, socially, sustainably and culturally and address these within trends over the next 2-15 years. They include:

  • Food & Wine Industries
  • Property Prices & wealth
  • Mobility - through mass transit & individual options
  • Cultural Exchange through students, business & tourism
  • Media, Journalism & Censorship
  • Arts & Cultural Museums & Galleries
  • Music, Dance & Cultural Theatre
  • Design & Media
  • Scientists & Engineers
  • Financial Services
  • Start-up Facilities
  • Shipping, Rail & Ports
  • Internet & digital technologies
  • Local Manufacturing
  • Economic Health, Size & Trade Opportunities
  • Domestic & Neighboring Markets
  • Global Connectivity
  • Risk factors such as conflicts & public safety
  • Strategic Influence

Christopher Hire, Executive Director of Innovation at 2thinknow says that “Cities such as Boston, Paris, Hamburg, Tokyo, New York, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Zurich, Singapore, Hong Kong, Stockholm, Minneapolis, Toronto, Abu Dhabi… all place in the top 50 in this ranking of future innovation. Innovation Cities are where we will find the political, economic, regulatory, engineering & cultural responses to environmental & economic challenges cities face now.”

Hire concluded, “Innovation now, will create the economic & social powerhouse cities of the future. All cities have the chance, but each city must address the challenges of innovation differently based on their relative strengths,”

Help us continue to learn about the strengths of our innovation industry by joining in the conversation and tell us why you think Boston is number one!

Add to the moderator session here.

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Posted in Blog, Innovate, Innovation | No Comments » add yours

What we Communicate to Students is Critical

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Talent is our region’s greatest strength. The data on the migration of talent show that not only are our universities a huge magnet bringing students into the region, but they also give our economy access to a large flow of recent graduates. What we communicate to students while they are in Massachusetts is critically important. I hope you will join us in thinking about the ways we institutionalize a culture of mentorship and networking that makes students feel welcome and connected in Massachusetts. The connections we are building though industry associations, individual firms, and universities are important. As an industry and a region we are growing to appreciate that what we give back to the younger generation will propel the region’s innovation economy in the future.

Also, we need to do a better job of getting our younger students interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers. Nationally, 26% of students taking the SATs check off an interest in a STEM career. In Massachusetts, that number is 20%. We have a lot of work to do!

One of the things we have going for us now is the leadership of Lt Governor Tim Murray who will be heading a statewide STEM Council. I believe his leadership signals a shift in the way Massachusetts has viewed the importance of IT careers and STEM careers in general.

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Posted in Innovate | No Comments » add yours

Lets Get The Conversation Started

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Leading local tech and innovation blogger Scott Kirsner raised some great questions this morning in his post over on boston.com.

Here at Innovate.Masstech.org we have posted a couple of videos in the last two weeks (with more to come) with the aim of seeding conversation around key areas including Entrepreneurship and Talent.

Today Scott asks who are these videos for?

Well… these videos are for You, and everyone invested in the future of the New England Innovation and Technology sectors. We hope they will be used to start people thinking and talking about what defines this sector now, and what we want it to become.  To highlight our strengths, to get the great minds of Massachusetts and beyond to start thinking and talking about ways to consolidate and grow these creative and innovative industries.

These videos, and the posts associated with them, are here to seed conversation with You. And like Scott, we want you to be vocal and share your thoughts with us.

He asks: “Are we trying to convince ourselves that we still matter, that we’re still cool? Are we trying to convince people outside the state that they should relocate here? People in Europe that they should set up their U.S. outposts here?”

It’s up to you to answer these questions. And to ask more.

Nobody knows this space better than You: The people that build it, that work in it every day, that are defining its future. Share your knowledge with us and let’s get the conversation started!

We have set up a moderator session here for you to add your thoughts and questions.

Why don’t you start by telling us who You are? Why did You choose this region to work in? What is it about the New England technology and innovation sector that excites You? We’re looking forward to hearing from You!

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Posted in Blog, Communication, Innovate, Video, What's on | No Comments » add yours

Let’s Celebrate the Unknown

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Massachusetts is a great place for entrepreneurs. Just take a look at this impressive list of “top things you might not know about the MA technology and innovation sector” assembled by Brian Shin (Founder and CEO, Visible Measures).

Michael Greeley (Founder and General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners) and Andy Ory (Co-founder, President and CEO, Acme Packet), co-chairs of the Entrepreneurship Working Group of the IT Collaborative, seem to agree. Watch what they and others had to say on June 10th. Massachusetts is a great place to do business.

But that does not mean we have it made. Perhaps we need to do a better job at embracing our entrepreneurs.

Look at the list below and comment. What are other success stories do we need to tell the world? What can we do to make these and upcoming stories well known and celebrated? Do YOU have a story to tell?

Top Things You Might Not Know About the MA Technology & Innovation Sector

  • Much of the internet is powered in MA with key foundational technologies developed at BBN, and companies like EMC, Akamai, and Sycamore Networks headquartered here.
  • MA is home to over 200 mobile startups, one of the largest mobile technology acquisitions (mQube by Verisign), the leading open mobile platform (Android, now Google), and the largest mobile social network (Mocospace).
  • Many leading online travel companies including Tripadvisor, ITA Software, and Kayak (started in Cambridge, MA and acquired by Side Step) are based in MA.
  • MA has a developing video nexus with Boston-based Sea Change, Brightcove, Permission TV, Gotuit, Visible Measures, Scanscout, Everyzing, Extend Media, Extreme Reach, and others.
  • Industry-defining, thriving, and publicly traded companies Monster.com, Avid, Pegasystems, Netscout, and Nuance are all based in MA.
  • MIT graduates have contributed $2 trillion in economic value by starting companies like Sohu.com and Analog Devices, with a current market capitalization over $7 bn.
  • In the past few years, the MA tech sector has spawned such IPO’s as Acme Packet, Constant Contact, and Vistaprint.
  • MA-based Meditech and Mathworks are two industry leaders who are among the world’s largest privately held independent software technology companies.
  • Some of the largest media technology acquisitions to occur in the past years, including Navic Networks (by Microsoft), Maven Networks (by Yahoo), and Broadbus (now Motorola) have been in MA.
  • Equalogic was acquired by Dell for almost the same amount ($1.4 bn) as YouTube by Google ($1.65 bn) but with 100 times less buzz (as measured by deal web page search results).

What else do we need to know? Add your stories here.

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Posted in Blog, Entrepreneurship, Innovate | No Comments » add yours

Getting Started…

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Tomorrow morning we’re gathering to talk about a wide variety of critical questions that surround Governor Patrick’s challenge to the region’s IT/digital sector.  We’re hoping to use the web and all of the exciting developments in social media to extend the reach and depth of the conversation — and we are eager to get everyone’s participation.  Please consider this website a work-in-progress as we work out the right questions to ask and look at all of the possible solutions.  Add your comments and suggestions to this blog — on this blog post or others — and participate in the other ways:

Thanks - and keep the ideas coming!

P.S. YouTube videos coming… once we have some videos to post!  We’ll be taking lots of video at the event tomorrow.

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Posted in Blog, Communication, Innovate, What's on | No Comments » add yours



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