MITii Corporate Innovation Lab (CIL)

The MIT Innovation Initiative (MITii) has launched the Corporate Innovation Lab (CIL), a cohort-based innovation program for corporate members. They’ll master innovation as conceived and practiced at MIT; engage with world-class talent in the form of MIT students and faculty; explore new ideas and validate existing hunches in a low-risk setting by practicing hands-on innovation alongside MIT community members; and network and exchange best practices in corporate innovation with fellow members.

The pilot program will open for up to eight select companies that will comprise a geographically diverse, cross-sector cohort.

(1) MIT ENGAGEMENT: Engage with MIT programs, students, faculty and startups
(*) Grad students, PhDs, and postdocs participate in the cohort. Students and postdocs gain valuable education, side-by-side with corporate leaders, building connections and exploring potential industry pathways
(*) Hackathons, Competitions, and Challenges at MIT. These events help corporations bring their big problems for engagement with MIT and the greater Boston community
(*) Application of Company Technologies @ MIT. Companies bring their technology to courses at MIT, where students innovate and develop solutions to real-life problems
(*) Student Internships. Opportunities for MIT students to intern with CIL members
(*) Corporate Innovation Fellows-in-Residence @ MIT. Innovation Fellows from member corporations can work on problems & engage students/faculty while embedded on campus

(2) CORPORATE ACCELERATOR: Help companies unlock the innovatino engin inside their organizations

Learn: Principles of Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Cohort drawn from global companies and MIT community; 5 days @ MIT Fundamental Principles of Innovation Bootcamp; Best Practices Master Classes; Innovation Practice Hackathon; Rethinking Innovation Workshops

Practice: Hands-on Innovation (Hackathons) For employees; 1-2 days @ corporate site Dynamic team formation; Ideation; Experimentation; Customer and problem discovery; Pitching

Apply: Innovation Loop
Internally at company and at MIT
Put the principles learned to work inside corporations Observe the roadblocks and learn what works

(3) INNOVATION RESEARCH: Get involved in groundbreaking MIT research and apply your CIL research grant to a huge array of partnering opportunities:
(*) Current innovative research at MIT: AI, Blockchain, AR/VR, IoT, and more
(*) Current programs supporting lab-to-market at MIT: Deshpande, Sandbox, Catalyst & others
(*) New studies on the science of innovation: Innovation Best Practices, I&E Data Studies