Richard Bendis and Nish Acharya will talk about the innovation and entrepreneurship programs in Federal Government today. Nish will also discuss briefly the status of the EDA i6 competition and the noticeable increase in the quality of the proposals.
They will speak about the paradigm shift in the EDA programs from a "Bricks and Mortar" focus (hard) to a more innovative programmatic focus (soft) on innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship.
They will also discuss the convergence of Universities, Government/ NIST and industry in the formation of private/public/partnerships to implement strategic innovation based economic development initiatives on a regional basis.
ABOUT THE ITEC WEBINAR SERIES:
This monthly series will focus on current trends in innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and investment capital at the federal, national and regional levels. We will explore university technology transfer and commercialization, unique entrepreneurial support and development programs, and early-stage capital investment alternatives. We will also discuss the necessary ingredients to create and sustain vibrant regional ecosystems.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
RICHARD BENDIS Founding President and CEO, Innovation America
Mr. Bendis is a distinguished and successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, investment banker, innovation based economic development (IBED) leader, international speaker and consultant in Innovation and Economy Building. He currently serves as the founding President and CEO of Innovation America (IA), a Global Innovation Intermediary focused on accelerating the growth of the entrepreneurial innovation economy in America.He is also serving as the interim CEO for BioHealth Innovation inc., a Central Maryland innovation intermediary.
Mr. Bendis is also serving as the interim CEO of BioHealth Innovation inc, a Rockville, Maryland based private/public partnership and innovation intermediary, focused on commercializing the BioHealth innovations from Federal Labs, Universities, Industry spinouts and Entrepreneurs in the region.
Mr. Bendis has been appointed to several national innovation related organizations and committees include the White House U.S. Innovation Partnership (USIP) Advisory Task Force and Co-Chair of the Small Business Innovation Research Committee), the National Governor’s Association (NGA) Science and Technology Council of the State’s Executive Committee, the State Federal Technology Task Force, the National Academies (NAS) committee on “Competing in the 21st Century: Best Practices in State and Regional Innovation Initiatives”; National Academies National Research Review of “an Assessment of the SBIR Program; National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) National Advisory Board; U.S. Small Business Administration’s Angel Capital Electronic Network (ACENET) Board of Directors; American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Nominating Committee and the American Association Research Competitiveness Program Advisory Committee; Council on Competitiveness – Clusters of Innovation Committee.
Mr. Bendis is currently or has previously served as a board member and representative to the following organizations: National Association of State Venture Funds (NASVF) Founding Board member and Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee; State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) Founding Board member: Eisenhower Fellowships Nominating Committee, the Ernst and Young Entrepreneurial Institute Member and as a past EOY winner as well as a national/regional Judge, Advisory Board member of the Technopolicy Network.
Mr. Bendis has provided global consulting services to over 18 countries and 24 states, several cities and regions, along with international organizations including the United Nations, NATO, UK Trade and Industry, European Commission, French Embassy, the German Marshall Fund, The Canadian Consulate, COTEC, TechnoPolicy, Science Works, METI, AKEA, the International Science Parks and Innovation Expert Group and other global entities. Mr. Bendis is an International speaker, focusing on Innovation , Entrepreneurship, and Developing and implementing Innovation Based Economic Development Strategies.
Mr. Bendis founded the Bendis Investment Group LLC, (BIG), a financial intermediary and consulting firm, along with managing his own angel investment portfolio. Mr. Bendis also founded and served as the founding President and CEO of Innovation Philadelphia (IP), a three state regional public/private partnership dedicated to growing the wealth and workforce of the Greater Philadelphia Region. IP managed a portfolio of programs in four distinct areas: Direct Equity Investment/Financing Assistance; Technology Commercialization; Global/Regional Economic and Workforce Development; and Market Research and Branding. Mr. Bendis currently serves as the Chairman of the innovation Philadelphia, Board of Directors.
Previously, Mr. Bendis successfully leveraged a career in the private sector (with Quaker Oats, Polaroid, Texas Instruments, Marion Laboratories and Kimberly Services) and the venture capital industry (RAB Ventures) to lead the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC). As its president and CEO, he developed KTEC into a globally recognized model for technology-based economic development. Mr. Bendis also successfully built an Inc. 500 healthcare software company, Continental Healthcare Systems, Inc., which he took public on NASDAQ and later sold to an international conglomerate. He was a nominee for the 2005 Ernst and Young National Entrepreneur Supporter of the Year Award (EOY) and was the 1996 recipient of the Regional Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
NISHITH ACHARYA Director of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce
Nishith Acharya is the Director of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Commerce. Prior to joining Commerce, Nishith served as Executive Director of the Deshpande Foundation, a prominent American philanthropy focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and scalability around the world. Nishith led the Foundation's strategic planning, grant making, evaluation and advocacy efforts. Under his leadership, the Foundation's "Sandboxes" – centers of innovation and entrepreneurship have become a leading international model for regional economic development. During his tenure, the Foundation created a Sandbox in India, with over 100 partner organizations and nearly 10,000 individual participants. Nishith has also led the Foundation's venture philanthropy, working to help scale Indian NGO's like Akshaya Patra and Agastya throughout India. It also created Sandboxes to boost the economies of the Merrimack Valley cities of Lowell, MA and Lawrence, MA and New Brunswick, Canada. The Foundation also supports the MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, and provided seed capital to major initiatives like the Public Health Foundation of India, the United Way India and the US Indo-Engineering Collaborative. Nishith serves as a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bretton Woods Committee, The Indus Entrepreneurs, and the Clinton Global Initiative. He also served as a Board member of Akshaya Patra USA and the United Way Worldwide Leadership Committee. He has also been a judge for major government programs such as the Department of Energy Innovation Ecosystems Grant and the Malcolm Baldridge Award. Nishith has been an entrepreneur – first as a founding employee of MDPad, an innovative health care technology company, and as Chief Executive Officer of Youth Tech Entrepreneurs, a non-profit that developed technology and business education curriculum for students at the high school level for over 1500 high school students in Massachusetts. Nishith also served five years as a Presidential Appointee in the Clinton Administration, where he worked with the Administrator and Deputy Administrator of the US Agency for International Development for USAID programs in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia, and initiating an effort to utilize the Internet to improve international disaster assistance. Nishith has worked for Education Secretary Richard Riley and as Associate Director of Scheduling & Advance for the President. Nishith has a Master's in Public Administration from George Washington University; and a BS in Political Science from Northeastern University. He has been quoted in many major publications, including the Boston Globe, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Asian Week, the Times of India, the Economic Times, the Financial Times, Newsweek, BCC and NPR.
WEBINAR DURATION: Each session is a 30-minute webinar with 15 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes of Q&A.
COST:Free, but registration required by clicking on register the Register button above.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE?: This webinar is online. You need a computer with web access for the visual/audio. You may also dial-in using the audio-only telephone number. The call in details and instructions on how to join the webinar will be sent to you via email after you register. Once registered to the webinar you will receive a reminder email 24 hours before the start of the webinar with instructions on how to join.
QUESTIONS TO SPEAKERS: Q&A is conducted by a chat box to the speakers.
WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE WEBINAR?:National and international media, federal and state government officials, venture capitalists, angel investors, Global 1000 companies, industry representatives, university officials, entrepreneurs and individual investors.
SLIDES AND VIDEO: The slide presentations and video recording will be available on this page. If you are unable to join the live webinar, you may view the recorded video that will be posted within 24 hours after the scheduled webinar ends.
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