Newswise — Great ideas come along everyday, but many of them never make it to market. Ramiro Jordán, PhD, would like to see more ideas reach markets. “What we’re trying to do is take an idea from the lab to the marketplace,” he says. But Dr. Jordán is not talking about a single idea or a single market; he thinks globally.

As one of the creators of the Global Innovation Network for Entrepreneurship and Technology, Dr. Jordán will welcome 50 entrepreneurs, researchers, investors and government officials from around the world to the first-ever GINET workshop. The workshop will be held May 7 to 9, 2014, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center. It will not be a typical conference, though, says Dr. Jordán. “It’s about striking deals — forging relationships, forging collaborations — and then taking the next steps.”

GINET started at UNM. It was inspired by high-level meetings between the governments of the United States and Brazil in which officials agreed that high tech entrepreneurship is strategically important. The UNM team included partners at University of California at Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University and several other universities. They expanded the initial innovation thrust by including education and research and opening the effort to all countries.

For the first workshop, Dr. Jordán wants to create the right environment not only to introduce deal makers to each other but also to allow them to actually make deals. The workshop’s size of 40 to 50 people is just right to create effective networks of collaboration. “By working in networks, you minimize risks,” he says. “You can penetrate markets and do business development very fast to customize products that people actually want.”

But the workshop differs from other innovation conferences in another, significant way. It will encourage a second kind of entrepreneur, one that Dr. Jordán calls a social entrepreneur. “We need leaders who are aware of the amount of effort that goes into developing technology,” he says. “We need people to influence governments to help facilitate transactions and move research and capital.”

Gary Oppedahl, Director of Economic Development at the City of Albuquerque, will give a keynote talk and is an example of a social entrepreneur. Mr. Oppedahl’s background includes management positions at Intel Corporation and several start-up companies. “We are working to make Albuquerque the best city in the world for entrepreneurs,” said Mr. Oppedahl. “That said, to be a world leader we have to earn our place in the global network of organizations and individuals who are proving that the future of economic development lies within the hands of our innovators. GINET is an important piece to this puzzle.”

Creating a fertile regulatory environment for innovation is important for markets everywhere to thrive. “We have institutions in the United States that, whether you like them or not, they work,” says Dr. Jordán. “Other countries don’t have that.”


About Ramiro Jordán, PhDRamiro Jordán, PhD, is the Executive Vice President, Founder and Special Advisor to the President of ISTEC (Ibero American Science and Technology Consortium). He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UNM School of Engineering; Associate Chair and Director of Electrical and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Program; and Associate Dean of Engineering, International Programs. Dr. Jordan has over 23 years experience creating international educational programs, building multi-national educational-industrial-governmental relationships and fostering global and local entrepreneurship.

About Gary OppedahlGary Oppedahl is the Director of Economic Development for the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He comes from the private sector where he has spent much of his career fostering tech start-ups including EMCORE and most recently TriLumina, both of which are built from research conducted at Sandia National Labs. Mr. Oppedahl has been involved with business start-up activity in Silicon Valley and is a former Intel employee whose duties included new site start-ups.

About the GINET WorkshopThe Global Innovation Network for Entrepreneurship and Technology, GINET, is focused on bringing innovations to the marketplace by creating a global network of programs through collaboration among Academia, Industry, Research & Development Centers, Governments, Investors and Mentors, Multilateral Organizations, and Individuals Visionaries and Entrepreneurs (serial and first time). Our immediate objective is to accelerate the rate of bringing innovative ideas, services, applications, prototypes, and products through strategic alliances to key investors, industry and government agencies and to bring these innovations to the marketplace. www.ginetllc.com

The Global Innovation Network for Entrepreneurship and Technology workshop will be held in the Auditorium at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center on May 7, 8, and 9, 2014. The themes for this workshop include Health Sciences, Energy, Information and Communications Technology and Innovation.

GINET organizers are planning a follow-up workshop later this year in Brazil and two more workshops next year; one in Spain and one in Malaysia. Please contact Dr. Ramiro Jordán for more information at 505- 277-2412 or [email protected].

About the City of Albuquerque Economic Development DeparmentIn 1993 the Office of Economic Development was created to promote and facilitate business development, to create and implement economic development strategy, and to strengthen ties with the private sector. Through Economic Development Office's many achievements and strong reputation for reliability, on July 1, 2006, the Office of Economic Development gained department status becoming the Economic Development Department. Economic Development Department has evolved to become a policy-oriented, fast-moving department within the City. We work with the private sector, within city government and in partnership with other agencies, the Congressional delegation, state legislators and business groups. We take a networking, problem-solving approach. We pride ourselves on responding quickly.

Mayor Richard Berry has directed Mr. Oppedahl to work with existing tech-transfer leaders and innovators in Albuquerque and around the world with the goal of building a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Albuquerque and to identify opportunities for growth and job creation; more specifically – the commercialization of research from our National Labs and our Universities.

Learn more at http://web.abq.org/Government/City-of-Albuquerque-31.

About the UNM Cancer CenterThe UNM Cancer Center is the Official Cancer Center of New Mexico and the only National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center in the state. One of just 68 premier NCI-Designated Cancer Centers nationwide, the UNM Cancer Center is recognized for its scientific excellence, contributions to cancer research, the delivery of high quality, state of the art cancer diagnosis and treatment to all New Mexicans, and its community outreach programs statewide. Annual federal and private funding of over $77 million supports the UNM Cancer Center’s research programs. The UNM Cancer Center treats more than 60 percent of the adults and virtually all of the children in New Mexico affected by cancer, from every county in the state. It is home to New Mexico’s largest team of board-certified oncology physicians and research scientists, representing every cancer specialty and hailing from prestigious institutions such as M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, and the Mayo Clinic. Through its partnership with Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces, the UNM Cancer Center brings world-class cancer care to the southern part of the state; its collaborative clinical programs in Santa Fe and Farmington serve northern New Mexico and it is developing new collaborative programs in Alamogordo and in Roswell/Carlsbad. The UNM Cancer Center also supports several community outreach programs to make cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment available to every New Mexican. Learn more at www.cancer.unm.edu.

UNM Cancer Center contact informationDorothy Hornbeck, JKPR, 505-340-5929, [email protected] Michele Sequeira, UNM Cancer Center, 505-925-0486, [email protected]

###