Silicon Valley and Beyond Lessons Learned in the Rainforest Africa Forum on Science Technology and Innovation 1 st -3 rd April, 2012 Nairobi, Kenya To promote Youth Employment, Human Capital Development and Inclusive Growth

ONCE UPON A TIME…

THIS IS HOW WE DEFINED ECONOMIC PROCESS

ECONOMICS The science of explaining tomorrow, why the predictions you made yesterday, didn’t come true today

Output Land Labor Capital Science But in the real world Not gears, but human beings Landlord Engineer Investor Scientist

And real human beings are separated … by geography, culture, language, time zones, social networks, and lack of trust.

Across an entire system This happens across entire systems.

BUT WE ARE BIOLOGY …NOT BUILDINGS

ACTIONS  OUTCOMES This is where we tend to focus

ATTITUDES  BEHAVIOR  ACTIONS  OUTCOMES This is where we need to focus

NATURE IS AWESOME

THE RISE OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMIES

THE EMERGENCE OF KNOWLEDGE & CREATIVE ECONOMIES

For a new species temperature, humidity, precipitation, sunlight, soil/nutrients, other flora/fauna For a new startup capital, entrepreneurs, laws/norms, ideas/inventions, talent, markets

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent … but the one most responsive to change.” - Charles Darwin

CAN WE ENGINEER SERENDIPITY THROUGH DESIGN?

Orienteering vs. Roadmapping

A New Paradigm Predict and Repeat  Learn and Adapt Business Planning  Business Modeling Eliminate Risk  Manage Risk Never Fail  Fail fast and cheaply Outputs  Outcomes (Patents ≠ Products) Invention  Innovation

HOW WE TEACH HOW WE LEARN IS NOT

Tell me and I forget Show me and I remember Involve me and I understand “ Chinese Proverb”

Challenges in the Implementation of Innovation Systems Why You?….Why Now?....and Why Bother? ‘Layering’ regional collaboration activities upon existing infrastructure What is the role of government? What feedback loops (client, supporter, stakeholder) do you build into your system? What is the appropriate model for funding? How do you create a sense of urgency? How do you start the process that allows the region to grow into our destiny, rather than build it upon decades old models? What is the appropriate interface between technology transfer and technology commercialization

WHERE DO WE START? Produce a Regional Genome Support Boundary Spanning Organizations Programs: Meet the Researcher / Entrepreneur – Inclusive ecosystem training – Mentoring programs such as Springboard Creative forms of financing Accelerators vs. Incubators Grand Challenges E-teams I-teams Fellowship and Internship exchange opportunities Celebrate success!!!

“ While we associate economic growth with technological development, organizational innovation has played an equal, if not more important role since the beginning of the industrial revolution.” Economic historians Douglass North and Robert Thomas (P47 of “Trust”)

LET’S BUILD SOME ‘RAINFORESTS’ TOGETHER HERE IN AFRICA

A new book by Victor W. Hwang and Greg Horowitt GREG HOROWITT, MANAGING DIRECTOR, T2 VENTURE CAPITAL CO-FOUNDER, GLOBAL CONNECT, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO