This week is busy, with inbound missions from Samsung (Korea), Brazilian Army (Brazil), Dow Chemical (Belgium), Nissha (Japan/Germany), Philips (Holland), Reckitt Benckiser (Manchester/Hull. Well, I think that counts as another country these days), Shell (Holland), Solvay (Belgium) and University of Missoura (United States).
On Tuesday afternoon, Samsung hosted a gathering of the best and brightest to think about how electronics can make our daily lives greener. I turned up half an hour late for lunch with the President of Samsung Semiconductor, who is fortunately a very nice man. GEO and ARM were talking too, and it was fun to catch up around the work we are doing with peer-group learning for software leaders, a critical shortfall in the local talent pool as Software As A Service becomes a common element of most of our local technology outfits delivery plans. I suggested one such company to Samsung Ventures, a brand new spinout from the University of Cambridge which can significantly reduce power losses in distribution who we are currently hooking up with Brazilian and Boston-based investors. Then it was off to the event, which was delighted to see was very well attended by companies both within Cambridge and from across the UK.
On Wednesday we welcomed our Open Innovation guests for the Corporate Gateway (sponsored nobly by East of England Inward Investment and Cambridge Science Park and held in the gorgeous new Broers Building - thanks!!!) with a showcase of Cambridge ideas that could change the world. Again I turned up very late. The Brazilian delegation were just such a good crowd and we wound up wandering around Jagex, Owlstone and other outfits in the Science Park and then doing the tour of Cambridge colleges. They may have been humouring me, but they seemed to enjoy all the military connections of the different warlords (and warladies!) who set up the Roundchurch, St Johns, Trinity etc. They're coming back for the Defence and Security event next month. Anyway, I tried to sneak in the back of the lecture theatre and ask a question so people would think I'd been there all the time, but it turned out that having not listened to the lectures it was quite difficult to do so. Memories of falling asleep in class.
Thursday put those academics together with some of our Founders and Open Innovation guests for a black tie dinner: Anglia Ruskin, ARM (COO, EVP HR), Cambridge Science Park (2), Creative Places (2), Dow (3), East of England Inward Investment (3), Ernst & Young (Office Senior Partner), Finmeccanica, Hewitsons (Managing Partner, 1 more), Foreign & Commonwealth Office Boston (Head of Science & Technology), Hitachi Europe, HLBB Shaw, Ipso, Microsoft Research (Chief Research Scientist), PA (Managing Partner, 2 more), Philips (3), Reckitt Benckiser, Sagentia (CEO), Shell (2), Solvay, Taylor Wessing, TTP (Chairman, TTP Ventures), Unilever (3), UKTI (2), University of Cambridge (ProVC Research, Executive Director of the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research) , University of East Anglia etc. The international delegates were groggy after 8 meetings, and with the prospect of another 8 meetings on the Friday, but it is amazing what a few glasses of wine and good company will do for you. The guy opposite me (Doug Crawford-Brown) was pretty sleepy too, having just flown in from visiting a Near East prince to figure out his carbon strategy (I last saw him on Monday at the CSR bash, and he had been continously in the air or in the desert ever since). He'll be moderating the discussion in our next Cleantech SIG event in December. It was nice wine ;-). We also spent time plotting with ARM, Cambridge Science Park and University of Cambridge how to win a couple of Technology Innovation Centres for Cambridge out of the £200M announced by the government on Wednesday (pity Amadeus had an offsite Thursday and couldn't make the party ;-().
Come together, sang John Lennon. It's almost sacrilege to compare our Corporate Gateway, a thoroughly commercial operation, to the hippy ideals of free love that John was promoting. What the hell is a Network CEO who engages with military folk to try to get them to promote dual-use of their technology and beat their swords into ploughshares doing, even daring to put up that link? I'm expecting a lot of folk around Cambridge who lived those days in the 1970s to flame me for it (personally, I was in Manchester at that time. And yes, I did have flares. But I wasn't old enough for a 'tache). But heck, we need to pay the bills and this is all done at less than cost, and in the best possible taste.
So, with pride, we are happy to be Open to Innovation with countries all round the world - so Cambridge ideas can go out and change them too.
Comments