The MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT REAP) provides opportunities for communities around the world to engage with MIT in an evidence-based, practical approach to strengthening innovation-driven entrepreneurial (IDE) ecosystems.
 

MIT REAP Overview from Travis Hunter on Vimeo.

MIT REAP. Translate, Convene, Educate.

We achieve our mission by translating research insights into practical frameworks, convening stakeholders focused on IDE, and educating regional leaders through team-based interaction to achieve economic and social progress.

Translate research and expertise into practical frameworks, approaches and actions with widespread global application.

Convene stakeholders (corporate, risk capital, entrepreneur, university and government) from ecosystems around the world to build a community for collaboration and learning.

Educate regional innovation ecosystem leaders through team-based learning to facilitate meaningful economic and social outcomes.
 

Mechanisms to Learn and Engage:

Translate: Case studies, frameworks, podcasts, videos, regional write-ups.

Convene: Conferences, workshops, Global Innovation Network, webinars.

Educate: Two-year program for regions who engage as teams (representing key stakeholders).

Partner regions form multi-disciplinary teams and commit to a two-year learning engagement with MIT. During this engagement, teams work with world-renowned MIT faculty and the broader REAP community through a series of action-learning activities to build and implement a custom regional strategy for enhancing their IDE ecosystems. Further details are also available in the MIT REAP brochure and program overview.

Who? MIT REAP admits up to 8 partner regions annually to participate in the two-year engagement. A typical REAP region has a population of 1-10 million people. Each partner region has a team comprised of 5-8 highly driven and influential regional members and is headed by a regional team champion. All 5 major stakeholder groups are represented in an MIT REAP team: government, corporate, academia, risk capital, and the entrepreneurial community

Stakeholder Model

Each team participating in the program must have a representative from each of the 5 stakeholder categories. 

• Deploy MIT rigor and use data-driven frameworks to deepen analysis and evaluate their current entrepreneurial ecosystems
• Catalyze action through the development of a common agenda and set of shared measurements to support the construction and implementation of a strategic framework for driving regional IDE impact
• Leverage understanding of key drivers of successful IDE ecosystems to design and implement key programs and policies
• Share best practice from world-renowned MIT faculty and partner regions
• Build bridges internally across regional stakeholders to drive regional strategy development and implementation
• Exchange ideas externally with the partner regions and MIT REAP community
• Cultivate a global community of regions and individuals interested in ecosystem development

Strategic Interventions

Each team determines one or more strategic interventions to implement during the 2-year program as well as the metrics to measure impact of that programmatic or policy intervention.

How? MIT REAP involves four action-based learning cycles over a two-year period. These cycles involve highly interactive workshops every 6-9 months, which are interspersed by action phases.

Throughout the workshop there are 4 workshops. A typical workshop is 3 days and consists of lecture & discussion, case study analysis, ecosystem engagement tours, programmatic deep dives, group work report-outs, and preparation for action phases. Three workshops are hosted at MIT and one workshop is hosted by a selected partner region.

Action phases are active time between workshops where teams return home to deepen analysis, validate assumptions with a broad network, and implement new programs and policies. There are 5 Action Phases over the course of the program. Take a look on MIT REAP London as example.

Program Structure

MIT REAP 2-year overview of action-based learning cycles, with phases 0 to 3, workshops 1 to 4 and a global innovation network.

More infomartion about RAP at the MIT website.