4 Things to Know About Our New Exponential Regional Partnership with SingularityU The Netherlands
We’re thrilled to have announced our first-ever Exponential Regional Partnership (ERP) with The Netherlands! Now, you may have some questions about that.
1. What is an ERP?
The ERP stands for Exponential Regional Partnership. The ERP program is an alliance between Singularity University (SU) and regions of the world in which SU provides educational programs, community activities, and an innovation hub in order to jump-start a movement within a region aimed at solving the most pressing Global Grand Challenges. The result? A region propelled toward an abundant future.
2. Why the Netherlands?
This partnership, which establishes SingularityU The Netherlands, is the first of what we hope will be many ERP programs. Our goal is to ultimately roll out similar partnerships to regions around the world and to work with our alumni to develop, network, and collaborate on these exponential partnerships globally.
We chose the Netherlands as our beta partner because of our strong alumni base in the region, as well as the region’s history. The Netherlands is often a testbed for innovation, as it is a social, creative and innovative environment with rapid adoption rates. The Netherlands has always been a safe haven for free thinkers, a place for pioneers in the arts, culture, and international trade, for people who think different while shaping tomorrow’s society.
Many consider it Europe’s most connected ecosystem, with over 10 tech clusters within 90 minutes’ reach, including smartfood, health-tech, bioscience, nanotech, big data, network, and photonics clusters.
3. Where in the Netherlands?
SingularityU The Netherlands is a country-wide initiative. Therefore, the vision is to have programs running in all major cities, from Amsterdam to Rotterdam.
In 2016, it will start by opening an Innovation Hub in Eindhoven. Why start in Eindhoven? Synergy is created where high-tech meets the challenges in Health, Energy, Mobility, Automotive, Food, and other areas. Eindhoven is home to more than 125 companies and 10,000 researchers, developers, and entrepreneurs who converge and collaborate to develop the pioneering technologies and products of tomorrow.
Our innovation hub will at Strijp-S, an innovative neighborhood in Eindhoven that is the home of many creative industries, as well as the annual Dutch Design Week. As SingularityU applies technology for social good, Strijp-S seems to be the perfect place to combine social-cultural activities with creativity in a high-tech cluster.
4. What sort of programming will SingularityU The Netherlands provide?
Along with the Innovation Hub, SingularityU The Netherlands will launch the Netherlands’ second SingularityU Summit this year, running September 12-13, 2016. The Summit will bring thought leaders from around the world to discuss the rapid advances of exponential technologies, as well as the unexpected ways in which they converge to create a future of abundance for humanity.
Want to know more?
Please visit SingularityUNL.org, where you can find out more information about SingularityU The Netherlands. You can also follow SingularityU The Netherlands on Twitter and Facebook.
