The Office of CIO proposes to partner with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for this strategic effort. MIT has Regional Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (REAP), specifically focusing on regional strategic needs. REAP (https://reap.mit.edu ) is 2 years innovation-driven entrepreneurship program to drive collective impact toward ecosystem change. This program is in place since 2012 and since then, 50+ regions from all over the world have taken advantage of their practical evidence-based frameworks to develop regional strategies. MIT REAP team will assist the County as a Strategic Advisor bringing diverse stakeholders together to formulate a comprehensive strategy with an actionable implementation plan. It will help achieve unbiased, inclusive consensus among diverse stakeholder groups. Apart from REAP Team, the County will be able to leverage research and expertise from the MIT ecosystem focused on the Digital Divide including MIT Initiative on Digital Economy, MIT Work of Future, MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge as well as experiences from other regions that participated in the program.

This effort will involve internal stakeholders from the County Departments as well as external stakeholders from Cities, academia, Private Partners, Community Based Organizations, Venture Capital, Entrepreneurs, Philanthropic Organizations