3. A mixed ecosystem Once these first two elements are locked in, an innovation district is well-placed to at- tract a wide group of people, from students to investors. In 2010, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a $US100 million com- petition among universities to open an en- gineering and science centre on city-owned land on Roosevelt Island. The result was Cor-
nell Tech – a partnership between Cornell Uni- versity and Technion–Israel Institute of Tech- nology (TATA). The graduate school has since been credited with enticing Amazon to con- sider building a headquarters in Queens and Google to open a campus in the West Village. Closer to home, ORIX, a fleet leasing com- pany, was drawn to Sydney’s Macquarie Park by its complementary pool of corporate and
multinational headquarters alongside a lead- ing university – and Australia’s only Venture Café. It has all the right ingredients to sup- port a thriving start-up ecosystem. We at ORIX believe new ideas and innova- tion have never been so important. We want to be part of innovation’s DNA and are willing to embrace the disruption that comes with that. We believe being part of an innovation
district is a business enabler in every sense – for every type of business. Reggie Cabal is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at ORIX Australia and New Zea- land, one of the leading fleet management, novat- ed leasing and rental companies in Australia.
Below: Sydney’s Macquarie Park Innovation District
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