Without a proper outlet for imagination and without the hope that it will make a difference, possibilities diminish. Imagination is one of the most powerful tools we have. It’s limitless and forward looking. Innovative ideas can’t happen without it. But imagination alone is not enough. Imagination needs ingenuity to realize its full potential. i2 seeks to empower young innovators with both, creating access to new opportunities through inspiration, education and the tools to apply them.

Dr. Sindi was born in Makkah, Saudi Arabia and is one of the world’s leading biotechnologists, and a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Sciences. As a child she was inspired by great scientists who changed the world like Einstein, Marie Curie and Ibn Al-Haitham.

She left Saudi Arabia in her teens and worked against the odds to become the first female from the Gulf to earn a PhD in biotechnology, studying at King’s College London, Cambridge, MIT and Harvard. Dr. Sindi is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, and a co-founder of Diagnostics For All, which offers cost-effective point-of-care diagnostic tools enabling the treatment of the 60% of people living beyond the reach of medical infrastructures. She has been a PopTech fellow in both Science and Social Innovation, advancing her longstanding goal to more closely link science and social impact. Dr. Sindi was announced by National Geographic as National Geographic Emerging Explorer.

Her dream is that i2 will make stories like hers less exceptional and more possible for every young innovator.

Follow Dr. Sindi:

Currently…

But still…

And so…

Sources:

1–3. arabnews.com (17 February 2011)
4. gulfnews.com (10 November 2011)
5. INSEAD Global Innovation Index (2011)
6. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2011)

The Middle East has to overcome huge barriers to entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurial Intent index measures the percentage of the population that actively pursues information for venture creation. The following are distinctly identified reasons for the lack of entrepreneurial endeavor in the region:

1. A lack of formal business skills among scientists and engineers
2. A culturally intrinsic fear of failure
3. A nascent Private Equity and Venture Capital environment (a lack of potential investors willing to provide the necessary capital)
4. Lastly, the fact that investors in the region do not focus on science-based ventures.

Acknowledging each of these issues as pressing obstacles, means addressing them collectively to ensure a more open and opportune path for entrepreneurs. i2 is trying to connect the dots by putting the right resources against the right issues so that every young innovator has the opportunity to live their potential and contribute to their society.

To identify, inspire and elevate fresh talent in the fields of science, technology and engineering.

The i2 fellowship will be dedicated to those graduate and post-graduate students who have a visionary and bold patent idea related to one of the following fields of:

energy • health • water • environment

For 8 months, i2 Fellows will be part of a group that will work to develop their business ideas in a well-connected ecosystem, able to create the best conditions to foster innovation, economic and social change.

The Fellowship will involve these 3 dimensions:

1. development of their business idea ...because learning a new path from science to market is crucial to move from a scientific laboratory to a boardroom.

2. development of their approach to entrepreneurship ...because a new breed of entrepreneurs will create a new kind of value for society.

3. development of their leadership skills ...because we believe a new kind of leadership will generate a new kind of organization and more innovation.

During an accelerated learning process, the twelve Fellows will be exposed to the most advanced theories and practices in the domains of entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership and will experience both an innovative ‘social science program” and a brand new “communication program”, both of which were developed in partnership with world class organizations.

Each Fellow will be assigned a Regional Mentor and a Global Mentor, selected between a number of deeply experienced and highly dedicated leaders.

For six weeks, fellows will be hosted inside the Harvard Innovation Lab (i-Lab), working with fellow entrepreneurs, supported by several Harvard Business School faculty members, including several Nobel prize winners, world-class authors, experts and practitioners.

Part of the i2 Fellowship Program will also take place at the MIT Media Lab: each fellow will be able to visit and explore some of the Media Lab experiments and collaborate with faculty members and research assistants, or even become engaged in research.

Although Fellows will be working individually, they will be supported by their mentors and by their newly created networks — just as things happen in real life, for successful entrepreneurs and innovators. They will work together with other entrepreneurs in the Middle East and in the United States.

They will experiment, co-design, prototype, test and create their own enterprise.

The whole Fellowship program is dedicated to helping the fellows prepare for their “New Venture Proposal”.

To provide project financing for fellows’ work.

After their 8 developmental months of training, matched mentorship, research, exploration, refinement, and ongoing exposure to innovators, entrepreneurs and investors through our “connect sessions” our 12 innovators will pitch their innovations at this conference to.

A participation of roughly 100 investors.

Additionally, the conference is our opportunity to celebrate the involvement of all of our constituents, celebrate the evolution of our innovators, and recognize the influence of our intellectual support network. It will feature high-profile speakers on topics of evolving and timely relevance and serve as a meeting point for board members, donors, contributors, and other i2 stakeholders.

Ongoing after-care ensures support of Fellows in their initial stages post pitch and selection. We want to ensure that investor connection is successful, and help cultivate the beginning stages of our innovators’ new ventures. Our fellows will forge lasting relationships with their mentors… and become more independent, but never disconnected. I2 fellows remain i2 fellows.

Peer community …to facilitate social and networking events that bring young people together in new and supportive ways.

Annual conferences ...to bring together an international community of innovators, highlighting young talent, new ideas and amazing inventions.

Mentor network ...to connect young innovators, participants and graduates of our Fellowship Program, with world class mentors in key infrastructural roles to help get great ideas off the ground. Mentors will give their time, expertise and advice.

To find out how you might involve your own talents,
please reach out to involvment@i2institute.com

If you’d like to learn more about i2’s evolving story or talk to a member of our team, please contact us at media@i2institute.org and download our press book here: i2_press_book.pdf

Boston
One International Place
100 Oliver Street, Suite 1400
Boston, MA 02110
USA

f: +1 617-535-7555
t: +1 617 535 7600

Jeddah
Level 26 King's Road Tower
King's Road
P.O.Box 40469 Jeddah 21499
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

f: +966122834060
t: +96612293327 / +96612293328

i2 Partner

Our thanks and appreciation to our partner, Succoon

i2 Contributors

Our thanks and appreciation to our contributors, McKinsey & Company, PopTech, National Geographic, Nifty Fifty Science & Engineering Festival and Wolff Olins

We want to start a conversation with you about the future—your personal future and our collective future. We can’t personally reply to every message, but we can give you a platform to share and discuss your ideas. We will post our questions and your answers on the site and hope to evolve the conversation over time. We promise to listen. 

What is your dream for your own future and for your country?

What could help you to make these dreams real?

You may apply to the program if one or more of the following requirements is fulfilled

1. You are a young graduate
2. You have developed your practice around the world of science and technology
3. You have an idea that could potentially become a national or international patented idea in one of the i2 Institute fields of Energy, Health, Water or Environment

The application consists of three parts

1. Your one-page résumé
2. Your one-page motivation letter, written around three themes

My personal dream/wish/ambition/idea when I think about
the marriage of “science-technology and entrepreneurship”

My ambition about my personal contribution to society ...through 
my personal development, my imagination and ingenuity at work.

My personal path to the future ….what sort of problem I wish to
solve through the creation of an enterprise?

3. The detailed description of your patented idea

One application is allowed per participant.

The evaluation committee is headed by Dr. Hayat Sindi.

Before sending your application for the i2 Fellowship Program, review once more these criteria:

• You are a graduate/post graduate science student
(or you should be finishing your studies by the end of 2014)
• You are between 20 and 35 years old
• You are fluent in English
• Your studies/work are related to the field of science and technology

The names of the first cohort of i2 Fellows will be announced in mid March.