Address to the 6th Americas Competitiveness Exchange on Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Dr. Meric Gertler
President, University of Toronto
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Thank you Dr. Treurnicht for your kind introduction. Thank you Minister Bains for your leadership and for your government’s leadership on behalf of all Canadians. It is a tremendous honour to join you today, and to welcome those of you visiting the University and the Toronto region from out of town.
This morning, I want to talk about what I will call the four ‘C’s: cities, collaboration, connections, and commitment. In particular, I want to investigate how these four ‘C’s combine to foster innovation in our regions.
I have spent much of my academic career studying the economic geography of innovation and I would enjoy discussing this topic with you all morning. But I promise to keep my remarks today to just 20 minutes!
Let me begin with two brief stories to help illustrate the role that cities, collaboration, connections, and commitment play in driving innovation.
