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University, Civic Leaders Discuss Global Partnerships

Hynes Convention Center, Boston, September 7, 2006 – Thirty civic leaders, including University of Massachusetts President Jack Wilson and Boston University President Bob Brown, shared ideas about how to make Massachusetts a global player over the next decade at a dynamic kick-off meeting of the Global Massachusetts 2015 China/India/Asia Strategy Group. Hosted by James Rooney, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, the goal was to begin a collaborative effort to ensure that Massachusetts will benefit from the explosive growth of India, China, and other Asian economies.

Gloria Larson, Co-lead counsel of Global Massachusetts 2015 and a partner at Foley Hoag, introduced the day's agenda by calling for a focused, coordinated plan to position Massachusetts at the forefront of international collaborations and trade.

Mass Insight President Bill Guenther then summarized the challenge: "In Massachusetts, we have many assets but we can't win at everything. We need to focus on a few global challenges where we can win."

Massachusetts Needs an 'Intentional' Strategy
Jack Wilson, chair of the Global Massachusetts 2015 China/India/Asia Strategy Group, welcomed the group as 'fellow travelers'-ones he often meets in Asian airports-and stressed the importance of developing an 'intentional' strategy. Wilson then described the work that UMass is engaged in with Asian partners and the recent opening of a UMass office in Beijing. "Massachusetts has a great 'brand name' in Asia," he said, "and we need to capitalize on it." Wilson is leading a UMass delegation to China in October to meet with senior officials and to discuss technology transfer issues and further collaborations.

Value Proposition Key to Successful Collaborations
Boston University President Bob Brown, an experienced practitioner in global partnerships as the Dean of Engineering and Provost at MIT, stressed the importance of engaging partners with an appetite for change and collaboration. He recounted the story of the University of Singapore implementing some of the recommendations of a delegation from MIT (e.g., creating a web-based bursary system to buy lab equipment rather than going through a 6-month complicated bidding process) before the delegation even issued its report.

Drawing on his experience with the Singapore-MIT alliance and the Broad Institute,* Dr. Brown reinforced the importance of clearly defining the goals of the partnership, duration of the agreement, the value proposition for both sides, the roadmap for making progress, and developing a pro-forma business plan. Trust, stability, and predictability are keys to ensuring success.

Roundtable Discussion: A lively roundtable discussion about private and public sector roles included Bob Culver, Mass Development; Dick Meijer, Genzyme; Christa Bleyleben, Mass. Office of International Trade, and her new director for China, Xylina Wu; Lowell Richards, Mass Port Authority; Bob Gittens, Northeastern University; Young Park, Berkeley Investments; George Bowman, State Street; Mike Meagher, East Asia Law and Government Strategies; Joyce Plotkin, Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council; and Brian Gilmore, Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Next Steps:
Guenther closed the session by noting that this was the right group of people in the room; "The challenge is to put it together." He asked for feedback on the meeting and additional sessions to define short- and long-term objectives, such as networking opportunities and a Global Innovation Partners Conference planned for the spring of 2008.

* The Broad Institute is a collaboration of scientists from Harvard, MIT, and other research institutions dedicated to genomic research.