Singularity opens exchange

Singularity University has launched its Corporate Innovation Exchange (CIE), an initiative aimed at boosting corporate innovation.

The programme will allow companies to establish a Silicon Valley-based outpost at Singularity, and have access to its tech experts, start-ups, and its wider network. Founding members include the children’s charity UNICEF, confectionary manufacturers Coca-Cola and Hershey Company, and retailer Lowe’s Companies.

The CIE will focus on R&D supporting new product development. Companies based at the exchange will have access to private office space on-campus, access to experts in the fields of artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robotics, and nanotechnology, and opportunities to interact with Singularity start-ups and students.

Rob Nail, chief executive at Singularity University, said: “The Corporate Innovation Exchange is the next step in the evolution of Singularity University from an educational institute and start-up accelerator, to a diverse global community of innovators that includes the largest organisations in the world. These companies not only seek to make bold leaps and drive disruption in their industries, but they also want to contribute to SU’s larger mission to positively impact the lives of billions of people.”

Carin Watson, Singularity’s managing director of Corporate Innovation, added: “The Corporate Innovation Exchange helps large companies think beyond next quarter’s earnings report…way beyond. This is where organizations come to look several horizons out…to reimagine and reinvent their future. Being here 24/7 gives these teams the tools to fast-track execution of their established innovation road maps and the freedom to explore the unknown, exchange ideas and experiment in disruptive spaces.”