On August 11, Glenn Robinson of the IC² Institute gave the opening keynote at Disrupt Asia 2018 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Glenn Robinson is Managing Director of the XLr8 Andhra Pradesh Technology Business Accelerator in Visakhapatnam, India, and Assistant Director of the IC² Institute.
In his keynote, Glenn offered perspectives on the development of the Austin “technopolis” and the importance of the collaboration represented by the Triple Helix model in creating a vibrant innovation ecosystem. He provided insights into the remarkable success of the XLr8 Accelerator, which has created the foundation of an innovation ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh state. XLr8 AP’s graduates have attributed ~$4M USD in new funding and revenue to the program and have created ~1,100 new jobs in the state. These outcomes represent >380% ROI on the state’s investment. He highlighted the power of innovation to transform tier 3 cities and provided examples of best practices for similar programs.
In addition to the keynote, Glenn was a panelist on a discussion of the role of government in creating a productive innovation ecosystem, and served as a judge in the final round of the Disrupt Asia Startup Battle. Finalists competed for LKR 300,000 and a trip to Oslo Innovation Week in Norway.
Disrupt Asia is Sri Lanka’s premier startup conference and innovation festival, organized by the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka since 2016. It convened experts from eleven countries to discuss topics such as public policy, security, venture investment, technology business startup creation and the development of a vibrant, balanced innovation ecosystem.
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