History has proven that economic prosperity requires constant innovation, realized as a startup community today that provides the most new job growth of any sector. So, how do we spur more innovation? Data shows that collaboration is the greatest driver of innovation. Tim Rowe will profile the rise of Cambridge, MA from a sleepy industrial zone to a thriving global innovation ecosystem and address how these learnings can apply in a Tokyo-specific context. At the heart of Cambridge’s transformation has been CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center) and its affiliate organizations, founded by Tim, which concentrates innovators and startups in one place to serve as a launching pad for entrepreneurs. The result has been immense: 3,300 client companies served since 1999, $2.7B of venture capital invested in CIC client companies and $3.9B, of IPOs/publicly disclosed exit values.