MIT Bootcamp returns to Queensland in 2018

Published Tuesday, 20 June, 2017 at 11:32 AM

JOINT STATEMENT

Premier and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk

Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy and Minister for Small Business
The Honourable Leeanne Enoch

SAN DIEGO, USA: The best and brightest minds from across the globe will come together to solve some of the world’s biggest problems under the Palaszczuk Government’s Advance Queensland initiative.  

Speaking in San Diego for International BIO 2017, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Bootcamp returns to QUT in Brisbane in 2018 following the highly successful MIT Global Entrepreneurship Bootcamp held in March this year.

“More than 110 participants from across 35 countries attended the event earlier this year,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“Participants were required to come up with a solution to a major challenge, find customers, start a company and then present their work to an international panel of venture capitalists from Brisbane, San Francisco and Boston.

“Two Brisbane women were among the two top teams to come up with breakthrough ideas during the event.”

According to the 2014 report Entrepreneurship and Innovation at MIT, MIT alumni have launched more than 30,000 active companies, creating 4.6 million jobs and generating US$1.9 trillion in annual revenue. The cumulative result is the equivalent of the 10th largest economy in the world.

Minister for Innovation Leeanne Enoch said having the event again in Queensland was a huge feather in the cap for QUT and the state.

“This highlights the great foundation work we built this year and our collaboration with a leading university,” Ms Enoch said.

“MIT is ranked as the number one university in the world in the recent QS World University Rankings 2016-2017 and is also regarded as a leader in entrepreneurship education.”

The Bootcamp condenses a one-year MIT course into an intensive, one-week learning experience led by senior MIT business lecturers.

The 2018 Bootcamp will focus on technology-enabled innovation in Queensland’s key sectors including agriculture, mining and environmental management.

QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake said the university is proud to have been selected again to host the Bootcamp as it builds on QUT’s many entrepreneurship initiatives to help make Queensland a global hub for innovation.

“Universities play a key role in the startup ecosystem and cultivate environments where entrepreneurship can thrive,” Professor Coaldrake said.

“Hosting this Bootcamp encourages and nurtures the next generation of entrepreneurs to help them prepare and respond to new challenges in a rapidly changing world.” 

QUT will offer three scholarships to attend the Bootcamp including one specifically for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

Professor Bill Aulet, who is Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Managing Director of Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship said demand for high quality entrepreneurship education is exploding across the globe.

“The first Bootcamp held in Brisbane this year was very well received by the entrepreneurial community in Queensland,” Mr Aulet said.

“We’re really looking forward to partnering again with the Queensland Government and QUT to deliver the Bootcamp next year and with a new crop of entrepreneurs.”

The MIT Bootcamp aligns with the Queensland Government’s $420 million Advance Queensland initiative by bringing together entrepreneurs, industry, universities and government to collaborate and turn ideas into action.

For more information visit http://advance.qld.gov.au/uni-researchers/mit-entrepreneurship-bootcamp.aspx

Media Contact:  Kerryn Manifold +61428 510 973