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The Global Institute on Innovation Districts

Advance / Strategic Support

Receive bespoke support to advance your district’s ambitions

Highly tailored, context-sensitive support to strengthen your emerging district, from a strategic advisor

What is strategic support

Local leaders around the world constantly ask us if they have what it takes to create a world-class innovation district.

Whether they are:

  • Starting at the beginning and questioning if a district is the right approach given their local and regional advantages

  • Aware of specific assets to leverage but unclear on how to jump-start their work and develop an integrated response

  • In progress but facing unforeseen challenges that slow them down

  • Questioning if a district is the right approach given their local and regional advantages

  • Aware of specific assets to leverage but unclear on how to jump-start their work

  • In progress but facing unforeseen challenges that slow them down

No matter what stage they’re in, strategic support is how GIID works individually with district leaders. We meet them where they are and work together to orchestrate progress.

Different ways we can engage

Strategy Sessions

We meet to understand your challenges and how we can help. Then, we come up with a specific, short-term coaching plan.

Challenges we can solve together:

  • Early diagnostic assessment of problems and opportunities within a larger economic, socioeconomic and global context

  • Presenting to local and state leaders “what is an innovation district” and how to deploy tactical but integrated strategies to advance their work

  • Analysis of a specific problem, benchmarking with other districts, and working with leaders to shape a bespoke solution

Duration: starting at 3 hours and up to 2 weeks

Individual analysis

Strategic assessment of your obstacles around one specific challenge. As part of this support, you receive multiple coaching sessions to apply evidence-based solutions.

Challenges we can solve together:

  • Multidimensional analysis to uncover your innovation district’s distinct R&D strengths
  • Evaluating districts or emerging districts from a place-based lens, such as: the level of accessibility, the location and number of translational research institutions and companies; the density and mixing of uses; and the kinds of amenities
  • Working with stakeholders to design a bespoke governance structure, including new ways to generate independent revenue streams
  • Tactical urbanism and placemaking techniques to build trust with the community and create quality places where people want to live, work, play and learn

Duration: 1 to 2 months, depending on complexity

Comprehensive analysis

360° assessment to determine whether an anchor or landowner possesses the necessary strengths and starting assets to create an innovation district. We provide a highly bespoke support plan based on very specific needs.

Duration: 6 to 9 months, depending on complexity

We support multiple stakeholders

Our focus is on emerging geographies that possess unique R&D assets and are considering growing a district

Early-stage innovation districts

Emerging districts and stakeholders building the model

Individual anchor institutions

Such as universities and medical institutions

Large landowners

With unique assets that could be leveraged to create an innovation district

Multiple landowners

With an interest in working together to create a district

Government

Local municipalities and state governments

Development corporations

That can transform the physical landscape of districts

Organizations that trust us

Oak Ridge National Lab

New South Wales Government

Greater Cities Commission

Cleveland Clinic

National Economic Council

Prime Minister’s Office, Israel

Benefits of engaging in strategic support

Clarity

Your unique value proposition and what differentiates you from others in the market

Honest assessment

What it will take to move from existing capabilities to thriving in today’s competitive environment

Precise roadmap

How to proceed, including who is key to your team

Empirically-grounded

Evidence to demonstrate unique strengths and capabilities

Clearly defined

Outputs that will help strengthen your districts’ competitive advantage

“I have to give GIID credit for our re-thinking of how we design and use the ground floor of our innovation district. They planted a seed with us that is not going away, which is that we build the entire district with the first floor of every building open and accessible. This is a whole new way of thinking about the ground plane.”

District Leader

Start your innovation ecosystem with confidence

Tell us more about your organization or district and how GIID can help you.

Get in Touch