Bogotá Campus of Science, Technology, and Innovation
Bogotá (Colombia)
Inaugural GIID Global Summit | April 2025
Discover what made it impactful. And memorable.
The caliber of the attendees…It was refreshing to navigate a professional environment where my fellow attendees deeply understand my work and can offer insight, partnership, and relevant support.
The speakers were genuinely interested in building connections—it felt like a real exchange, not a lecture.
I felt engaged throughout; whether by meeting incredible people or by seeing the incredible work of the Monterrey Innovation District. Everything felt meaningful and inspiring.
In April 2025, GIID convened its inaugural Global Summit at the Monterrey Innovation District in Mexico.
Leaders of both long-established and newly emerging districts came together with changemakers and visionaries for the world’s first large-scale gathering tailored to the needs and ambitions of these distinctive urban geographies of innovation.
2025 Global Summit in numbers
330
Participants
48
Innovation Districts
19
Countries
5
Global Regions
Latin America
Knowledge city
Panama City (Panama)
District 100
Guayaquil (Ecuador)
distritoQRO
Santiago de Querétaro, QE (Mexico)
Guadalajara Innovation District
Guadalajara (Mexico)
Medellín Innovation District, Ruta N
Medellín (Colombia)
Monterrey Innovation District
Monterrey, NL (Mexico)
Ñuble Innovation District
Chillán (Chile)
Tlalpan Innovation District
Mexico City (Mexico)
North America
16 Tech Innovation District
Indianapolis, IN (USA)
39 North Agtech Innovation District
St. Louis, MO (USA)
195 District
Providence, RI, (USA)
BioDistrict New Orleans
New Orleans, LA (USA)
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
Buffalo, NY (USA)
Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus
Washington D.C. (USA)
Cincinnati Innovation District
Cincinnati, OH (USA)
Cleveland Innovation District
Cleveland, OH (USA)
Cortex Innovation District
Saint Louis, MO (USA)
Discovery Square Innovation District
Rochester, MN (USA)
Gratiot Site Innovation District
Detroit, MI (USA)
Innovation Quarter
Winston-Salem, NC (USA)
Kendall Square
Cambridge, MA (USA)
MaRS Discovery District
Toronto, Ontario, (Canada)
National Landing
Washington DC (USA)
Norfolk Innovation Corridor
Norfolk, VA (USA)
Phoenix Bioscience Core
Phoenix, AZ (USA)
Pittsburgh Innovation District
Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
Research Triangle Park
Durham, NC (USA)
St. Pete Innovation District
St. Petersburg, FL (USA)
The LinQ
Mansfield, TX (USA)
The Pearl
Charlotte, NC (USA)
The Point Innovation District
Draper, UT (USA)
Tower 22 Innovation District
Dallas, TX (USA)
Utah Tech Innovation District
St. George, UT (USA)
Europe
Bath Riverside Innovation Quarter
Bath (UK)
Birmingham Innovation Precinct
Birmingham (UK)
Central Innovation District
The Hague (Netherlands)
Knowledge Quarter London
London (UK)
Knowledge Quarter Zuidas
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
MIND Milano Innovation District
Milan (Italy)
Oslo Science City
Oslo (Norway)
Oceania
Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct
Gold Coast, QLD (Australia)
La Trobe University City
Melbourne, VIC (Australia)
Liverpool Innovation Precinct
Liverpool, NSW (Australia)
Lot Fourteen
Adelaide, SA (Australia)
Melbourne Innovation Districts (City North)
Melbourne, VIC (Australia)
Monash Technology Precinct
Melbourne, VIC (Australia)
Asia
Nagaoka City Innovation District
Nagaoka (Japan)
Global Visibility
9.6M
Reach across social media
500k
People engaged online around Global Summit
30+
National and international media mentions
Defining Elements of the GIID Global Summit
Tailored Insights
Ten years after the release of the “Rise of Innovation Districts”, this inaugural GIID Global Summit offered empirically robust research on the evolution and key drivers of the innovation district model. The Summit detailed how, in the span of a single decade, districts are advancing their unique value proposition through new linkages with industry, R&D institutions, government, intermediaries, and others in the innovation ecosystem.
Interactive Plenaries & Workshops
There were 34 interactive plenaries, workshops & networking activities over three days at the Summit. Sessions were co-created with district leaders and addressed a range of critical topics including impact indicators, how to harness and grow R&D strengths, financial and revenue models and much, much more.
Learn about the main take-aways and insights from each session in the Summit Summary linked below.
Cross-sector Participants
District leaders, policymakers, and investors joined together with industry heads, urban innovators and real estate developers for immersive, interactive learning sessions.
Speakers represented a geographically diverse range of districts as well as heads of the World Economic Forum, Science Gallery International, Fundación FEMSA, Daikin, Cemex, Corning, ZGF, Lendlease and more.
Global Connections
Curated opportunities for meaningful connection among district leaders, policymakers, investors, and innovators helped fostered new partnerships, collaborations, and global alliances. Networking including strategic matchmaking and curated sessions like speed dating to ensure powerful peer connections.
Check out the profiles linked below of the 48 districts–spread across 19 countries in 5 global regions–who joined in Monterrey.
Awards Ceremony
The GIID Awards were created to recognize and celebrate bold leadership, pioneering practices, and transformative districts––both long-standing pioneers and emerging changemakers that are shaping the future of innovation around the world.
Over 50 submissions from five global regions were reviewed by an independent jury. The winners were announced and honored during the Awards Ceremony on Friday, April 10, as part of the inaugural GIID Global Summit in Monterrey, Mexico.
The Monterrey Experience
Tours and site visits showcased the Monterrey Innovation District–the first in Mexico.
The Global Summit was organized in partnership with the Monterrey Innovation District, a rising hub in Latin America which demonstrates—even at an early stage—important pathways for broadening impact, including how democratizing access to science can be a powerful tool to leverage partnerships with diverse industry leaders, advance R&D priorities and grow the unique value proposition of the district.
Powering Global Innovation Together
The Global Institute on Innovation Districts acknowledges the generous contributions of our Summit Partners who made this inaugural convening a resounding success.
ORGANIZED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
With support from
PIONEER PARTNER
Catalyst Partners
