The Nashville mayor's office has joined with Vanderbilt University to launch a new initiative, the Nashville Innovation Alliance, designed to bring together public, private, civic and education institutions to collaborate on improving the region's ecosystem for innovation and research.
Established by Mayor Freddie O'Connell and Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, the aim of the alliance is to grow Nashville's innovation capacity to create economic expansion and inclusive prosperity. The Nashville Innovation Alliance will create a structure for increased coordination to develop initiatives to create a greater abundance of talent, a stronger network of investors, easy access to research and dedicated space and programs for innovation.
"The Nashville Innovation Alliance has the potential to bolster our place as a hub of creative thinking and innovation," O'Connell said. "The alliance brings together key partners to support entrepreneurs, innovators and a new generation of leaders. Their work will move Nashville forward by ensuring our economy is competing in not only traditionally strong sectors but also in modern emerging categories. I want to thank Chancellor Diermeier for his commitment to Nashville and the alliance."
With more than $1 billion in annual external research funding across the university and Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a long track record of translating research into practice, Vanderbilt is a strong anchor for innovation and venture creation.
"Vanderbilt and Nashville are inextricably linked," Diermeier said. "This alliance will allow us to have a greater positive impact on Nashville as we work together to imagine, create and innovate. We have the potential to profoundly shape our shared future as an incubator of innovation and to dramatically increase our ability to attract and retain talent and investment."
Diermeier and O'Connell said their next step is to bring together partners from across the city to help further develop a strategy and determine priorities.
A steering committee to guide the alliance includes Elise Cambournac, CEO of the Greater Nashville Technology Council; Lindsey Cox, CEO of LaunchTN; Sam Davidson, CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center; Padma Raghavan, Vanderbilt's vice provost for research and innovation; and Isaac Addae, manager, entrepreneurship and economic development, in the mayor's office. O'Connell and Diermeier will serve as co-chairs of the committee.
As an initial project for the alliance, Diermeier and O'Connell would like to develop an "urban lab" model to deploy innovative solutions to address some of the city's most pressing issues. Having a robust innovation ecosystem will be critical for an urban lab model to be successful, according to Diermeier, as it involves piloting, scaling and often commercializing new technologies. "We are at our best when the public and private sectors are partners in solving the key problems of our day," Mayor O'Connell said. "From that partnership, we get the best solutions to keeping Nashville affordable, solving our transportation issues and modernizing our sustainability practices so the city remains a great place to live and grow. This alliance will ensure that thought leaders have the resources they need to act on the solutions we believe in."
For nearly a decade, Vanderbilt has collaborated with the mayor's office and the city to design, implement and evaluate numerous solutions aimed at addressing complex sociotechnical challenges facing the city and region. The alliance will provide additional support for those efforts and help identify new projects that are aligned with the city's priorities and with the expertise of Vanderbilt and collaborating institutions.
Learn more about the Nashville Innovation Alliance at nashvilleinnovationalliance.org.
Building on a legacy: Recent Vanderbilt collaborations to build an innovation ecosystem in and around Nashville
The following stories provide a snapshot of several recent Vanderbilt ventures aimed at bolstering the community's economic growth and innovation capacity.
- Announcing the creation of the Greater Nashville Venture Capital Association | Center for Technology Transfer & Commercialization
- CREST initiative gets grant to energize workforce development, economic growth through regional cross-sector collaborations
- Driving innovation: Vanderbilt and Bridgestone collaborate at inaugural Innovation Accelerator
- The Mid-South Hub Innovation Summit Returns, Showcasing Regional Ingenuity and Collaborative Spirit
- The Wond'ry opens Launch incubator space for startups affiliated with Nashville's universities
- Nissan and Vanderbilt launch creative collaboration
- Vanderbilt generates more than $96M in licensing revenue in FY23, most in university history
- Vanderbilt leads $12M effort to accelerate real-world impact of biomedical innovations through education, mentorship and funding for aspiring entrepreneurs
