Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust

The Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust (the Trust) will stand up the Resiliency and Business Innovation Project (RBI) with this i6 Challenge grant. The entire Commonwealth continues recovery efforts from Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico in September 2017. Home grown innovative concepts are key to finding local solutions, and are also potentially applicable on a global basis. Thus, the purpose of this project is to enhance Puerto Rico’s economic development through nurturing technically innovative entrepreneurial efforts, while also developing products encouraging disaster resiliency for Puerto Rico and making the Commonwealth a model for resiliency worldwide.

This project will enable proof-of-concept research, access to the Trust’s Response Innovation Lab, and other spaces and resources to accelerate and incubate science and technology ventures. The Trust will also provide entrepreneurship training and technical assistance to participants to continue commercialization planning and implementation. Furthermore, the Global Resilience Institute out of Northeastern University in Boston, MA, will provide resiliency guidance, training and mentoring tailored to businesses, especially for technology based businesses that are an outgrowth of the disaster.

The project anticipates supporting 20 to 50 entrepreneurs and companies intensively, while providing education, advisement and referral services to a broad network of entrepreneurs furthering innovative scientific and technological concepts. Additionally, a key goal for the project is to build a model for other communities to leverage on how to create innovation and economic opportunities after local disasters.