As unanimously approved during our 2024 Presidents Roundtable meeting, the new Alliance Business and Industry initiative has been launched. Organizational meetings have been held and a network will soon be formed to bring together business professionals in different geographic regions to share best practices; identify research areas; identify synergies between their companies, other customers suppliers and Alliance universities; and find local startups ready to support their efforts.

The background and rationale for this new and important initiative includes the fact that Alliance universities are very much part of their communities. Community connection and engagement lie at the heart of many university missions. Universities have become major drivers of economic development for their regions. To enable them to do so, universities have formed strong links with local businesses.

The Alliance currently includes 28 member universities representing 7 continents, 23 countries, 26 cities, a combined approximate population of almost 60 million, 662,000 students and 71,000 faculty and staff. These universities located throughout the world have many links with local industries in their regions. These links provide mutual benefits for the industries and their universities. Providing graduate workers, undertaking research and providing environmental monitoring are amongst the many activities that universities undertake with universities often forming the hub of industry networks in their local area.

Industries and businesses become lined through their links with universities. This can foster local economic development that benefits the regions by forming business coalitions. In effect, universities become the conduits between local industry. Conduits grow businesses and have a positive impact on the community.

These universities are also connected with each other through the Alliance. Indirectly, the Alliance is linked to all the businesses that the sister universities work with in their respective regions. These connections present an exciting opportunity for the Alliance to act as an conduit not only between member universities but also between the industries that are linked to each member university. This has the potential to grow economic development locally through global collaboration.

This Business and Industry initiative presents the Alliance with the opportunity to become a major driver of cross-border collaboration benefiting member universities and the regions they serve. Once the Alliance brings industries together, they could start working together with the Alliance becoming an important facilitator of international business-to-business relationships. This in turn would lead to better economic and social development of the regions Alliance universities serve.

Participating university members are currently identifying and inviting

business, industry, business chamber or association representatives to our