Albuquerque, NM – November 10, 2014 Victor Hwang, co-creator of the Rainforest theory on how complex innovation ecosystems are formed and why they are able to generate extraordinary creativity and output, has featured the City of Albuquerque, Innovate ABQ and STC.UNM in his latest column in Forbes Magazine. The Rainforest concept originated with Hwang and Gregg Horowitt, experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who co-authored a popular book entitled “The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley.” Their firm, T2 Venture Creation, helps start-up companies grow and designs innovation ecosystems for cities, corporations, governments and universities all over the world. The book is based on their real-life observations of and interactions with communities and organizations that generate remarkable innovation and economic output, Hwang and Horowitt reveal the “patterns that form as human beings come together to innovate” and propose ways to design, build and sustain a rainforest culture.
Hwang and Horowitt call these ecosystems “Rainforests” because the most successful models of innovation ecosystems (think Silicon Valley) are similar to the biological model of a rainforest. The book presents an intriguing metaphor-that Silicon Valley is a kind of rainforest with its own unique innovation ecosystem in which talent, ideas, and capital are the nutrients. As biological rainforests provide the fertile environment for their plants to freely grow in unpredictable ways, so too should innovation ecosystems cultivate their creations. Innovation ecosystems move freely, are highly diverse and rapidly connect and collaborate from the bottom up-just like a rainforest. STC is using the Rainforest model, modified to support the unique aspects of New Mexico as a “Rainforest in the Desert,” to create an innovation economy in New Mexico that will capitalize on the state’s outstanding scientific research, strong entrepreneurial assets, and thriving creative community. To read Victor Hwang’s article, go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorhwang/2014/11/04/albuquerque-builds-a-rainforest-in-the-desert.
Source: Forbes.com
For more information, contact:
Denise Bissell
(505) 272-7310
dbissell@stc.unm.edu