By Rob White
While attending a board meeting for the Innovate North State Innovation Hub, I was asked to provide a quick summary of Davis-related tech activities. My list was considerably longer than any of my colleagues from other areas of Northern California and it occurred to me that Davis has many examples of a vibrant technology sector. Since many of these activities probably would not be on a typical Vanguard reader’s radar, I thought it would be important to highlight some of these activities as a way to demonstrate the value of the sector to the Davis community.
Provided below is a list of tech related activities that are occurring now and over the next 3 to 4 months. This list is by no means comprehensive and does not cover all of the activities associated with the university.
EVENTS
TONIGHT – ** Twitter Workshop ** – maximizing Twitter for business success.
OCT 24th @ 5 pm to 6:30 pm
Hosted by: Sacramento Business Journal
The use of Twitter is a way to rapidly and succinctly provide information. This is a low cost workshop that will assist you in learning about the usefulness of Twitter for your business, news info, and personal life.
Location: Davis Senior Center: 646 A Street, Davis
More Info
** UC Davis Food, Ag, and Health Entrepreneurship Academy **
OCT 22nd to 24th
Hosted by the UC Davis Child Family Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Ag Innovation Entrepreneurship Academy is designed for researchers and early-stage start-ups working in agriculture-related fields to support commercialization of clean ag technologies. This inaugural academy promises to bring the best and the brightest from UC Davis, Chico State, Boston University, UC Berkeley, and Louisiana State University.
** Seed/Food Central **
NOV 14th @ 4:30pm to 8pm
Seed Central is an initiative of the Seed Biotechnology Center at UC Davis and SeedQuest, joined by a growing number of companies and organizations in the global seed and food industry. Seed Central’s purpose is to energize the seed industry cluster surrounding UC Davis.
Location: UC Davis Conference Center.
NOTE: Advanced registration is required
** Davis Start-Up Weekend **
NOV 15th @ 5:30 pm until NOV 17th @ noon.
Co-hosted by Davis Roots, HackerLab, and City of Davis
Startup Weekend is part of the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Startup Battle being held simultaneously in 100 cities around the globe. A 40-hour innovation event that focuses entrepreneur teams on rapidly solving an issue or problem.
Location – Old Dimple Records space: F Street, Downtown Davis
More Info
** FarmHack **
NOV 16th and 17th, begins at 9 am.
The National Center for Appropriate Technology is holding the first ever FarmHack in Davis. Meet other farmers, designers, engineers, mechanics, and builders. Learn about some of the problems small-scale farmers are facing, and participate in design sessions to brainstorm potential solutions to these challenges.
NOTE: Event is currently full, but they are taking names for the waitlist
Location: Glide Ranch, Davis
More Info
** Innovate North State’s Annual Innovation Awards **
DEC 3rd @ 5 pm to 9 pm
The North State region (from Davis in the south to the Oregon border in the north) brings the region’s entrepreneurs, CEOs, industry executives, academia and government leaders together to honor the individual teams and companies which, through their outstanding achievements, have transformed their businesses and been instrumental in creating the future of our regional economy.
HIGHLIGHT – Davis based companies and individuals are finalist for awards, including: Schilling Robotics, Marrone Bio Innovations, Congressman John Garamendi, Glenda Humistan, and Pam Marrone
Location: CSU Chico Bell Memorial Union Hall, Chico, CA
** Northern California Academy of Leadership **
OCT 15th – Application period opens. Cost is $1,500, and includes a retreat.
Academy starts January 2014.
A ten-month leadership program designed to grow business leaders in the 530 region of Northern California with particular focus on the tech and entrepreneur sectors. Topics include Creativity and Innovation, Networking, Building Effective Business Teams, and Navigating Change. The City of Davis is a partner with the Innovate North State iHub and sits on the Board.
HIGHLIGHT: Several of the speakers for this leadership academy are from Davis and one of the 2-day workshops is being held in Davis.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
** Innovation Park Task Force **
1st Meeting- Tuesday OCT 29th @ 5:30 pm
Reconvening the Task Force (as directed by Council) includes a first meeting of the previous members of the Task Force to begin the community dialogue around the topics of innovation, entrepreneurs, technology, research, and academia with the potential for business park(s) to serve these sectors. The Brown Act open meeting processes will be followed. The following are a set of topics that will be discussed. The agenda will be posted on the City Website and at City Hall.
1. Reviewing what was done and formalized in Nov 2012
2. Setting goals and desired outcomes from the new process
3. Directing staff to hold a series of open forums on the topic so that the community can have a dialogue.
4. Identify initial questions to address and confirm dates of community forums
5. Adjourn the Task Force until December (date TBD), where staff will bring back a summary of the community forums.
Location: Community Chambers, City Hall, 23 Russell Blvd.
** Innovation Park Community Forum(s) **
1st Forum – Tuesday NOV 5th @ 5:30 pm
The first of what is proposed to be a series of community forums will be held by the City to increase community level dialogue as a result of the Innovation Park Task Force recommendations from November 2012’s City Council meeting. The meeting will be noticed and information made available in accordance with open meeting requirements, though it is not an official Brown Act meeting.
In a dialogue-based format, city staff will provide information, invite representative stakeholders to provide brief presentations, and provide an opportunity for the community to give input and share ideas on locations, size, purpose and need for innovation business park(s) in and around Davis. The topics below will be addressed:
1. Provide brief overview of Innovation Park Task Force findings & recommendations.
2. Inform the community what was discussed at the Oct 22nd Council meeting and how to that direction can fit in to the larger plan for an innovation park.
3. Use structure similar to a typical Council meeting, with a brief staff report of any relevant info and 3 minutes for folks to speak or provide input.
Some questions that will be addressed at the community forum will likely include:
- What are appropriate tech uses at Nishi – size and scope?
- What are the specific needs of users like Schilling, Marrone, Engage3, HM Clause, etc?
- Based on case studies, what is the appropriate size to be both financially viable and attractive to the region?
Location: Tentatively Planned for Community Chambers, City Hall, 23 Russell Blvd
** City of Davis Innovation Council **
As an unofficial successor to the City’s Business and Economic Development Commission (BEDC), the City Manager and Chief Innovation Officer are working to convene an advisory body (to be called the Innovation Council) to regularly discuss community-wide needs and ideas for economic development, tech sector support, small business starts, and support for our retailers. This group of advisors is being selected by the City Manager and CIO and consists broadly of stakeholders from across the economic and business landscape.
INITIATIVES
** State of California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) Innovation Hubs **
Four new iHubs were announced by GO-Biz on October 8t, including the California Network for Manufacturing Innovation (CNMI).
More info on GO-Biz: http://business.ca.gov/
CNMI is a non-profit corporation for the purpose of promoting manufacturing competitiveness in California through a collaboration of industry, national laboratories, technical assistance, government agencies, academia, workforce and economic development organizations. Rob White, CIO for the City of Davis, is the lead for the Policy and Communications Working Group.
More info on CNMI Working groups.
** 530 Angels Network **
A group of regional investors and venture capitalist have created a fund focused on the 530 area code that is targeting mid-stage tech companies looking for investment as they come out of proof of concept phase. The fund includes investors from the Davis and Sacramento area. More information about this fund can be found here.
PLANNED FOR 2014
- City of Davis Quarterly Symposium on relevant tech topics, including agriculture, medicine, biotech and advanced/sustainable manufacturing. Collaborations to present the symposia to include SARTA, Innovate North State, UCD, Davis Roots, techDAVIS, HackerLab, federal labs, and other innovation groups relevant to Davis.
- Innovation Challenge – in early spring 2014, the City will co-host an entrepreneurs showcase and competition in Davis with Innovate North State. More info to come.
If you would like more information on any of these items, you can always reach me at rwhite@cityofdavis.org.
City of Davis Innovation Council – is there an application process?
DP- send me an email with your interest. Rwhite@cityofdavis.org