Changes

In April 2010, more than 140 leaders from higher education endorsed and submitted a letter to then Commerce Secretary Gary Locke through his National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE). These leaders, including Georgia Tech’s president, G.P. “Bud” Peterson, committed to work more closely with industry, private foundations, investors, and local, state, and federal governments to promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and the commercialization of research results. Underlying their commitment was a willingness to employ strategies, enhance existing activities, and expand efforts in several areas, including:

*Facilitating university – industry collaboration

*Engaging with regional and local economic development efforts

The Department of Commerce’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) recently followed up with the signatories to better understand their efforts to embody and implement the ideas contained within the letter, as well as to improve their ability to develop policies and programs that support innovation, entrepreneurship, and the commercialization of research results. OIE is conducting phone calls with every respondent to discuss their strategies and develop a general outline of each of their initiatives.