The Global Innovation through Science and Technology initiative (GIST) is a U.S. government program on innovation and entrepreneurship. The program assists business people in establishing
startups
A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...
. GIST participants in 135 emerging economies can develop skills, build networks, find mentors, and access financing through a combination of in-country training, a pitch competition, interactive online programming, and direct connections to U.S. experts. GIST helps create conditions for successful local entrepreneurship ecosystems and enables global youth to develop local solutions to local problems. GIST is also one of the key programs under President
Obama's SPARK Initiative, an initiative under which programs are selected to represent the best work being done by the U.S. Government to advance entrepreneurship around the world.
Since 2011, GIST has engaged more than 2.8 million innovators and entrepreneurs worldwide and mentored over 5,000 startups that have generated more than $110 million in revenue. GIST is a partnership led by the
U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
,
, with the implementation of programs by Venturewell and the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
(AAAS).
Launch
The GIST programs were announced at the 2011 conference on Economic Development through Science and Technology Innovation in Rabat, Morocco attended by U.S.
Dr.
Kerri-Ann Jones
Kerri-Ann Jones (born 1954) was vice president of research and science at The Pew Charitable Trusts. She is the former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the U.S. State ...
. This conference was the third and final consultative meeting to develop high-impact engagement opportunities. Previous meetings were held in Alexandria, Egypt and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The GIST initiative exemplifies a science and technology innovation partnership that U.S. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
called for in a 2009 speech at
Cairo University
Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...
.
GIST Tech-I Global Pitch Competition
The first Tech-I competition occurred in 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey. Notable Tech-I finalists have included Nermin Sa'd, founder of Hanadisayat.net from Jordan; and
Natali Ardianto, founder and CTO of Tiket.com from Indonesia.
The Tech-I Competition of the GIST initiative is implemented by the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
(AAAS).
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.gistnetwork.org/
Entrepreneurship organizations
Types of diplomacy
Innovation organizations