Egils Milbergs

Consultant and Public Speaker in Seattle, Washington

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Strategist in innovation, technology commercialization and global competitiveness and the founder of the Center for Accelerating Innovation. The Center builds and improves innovation ecosystems for businesses, governments, universities, non-profits, and communities. I am a co-founder of Pure Blue, a Seattle based non-profit that supports entrepreneurs to commercialize clean water technologies.

From 2008-2013 I served as executive director of the Washington Economic Development Commission and led the creation of an innovation-based strategy for economic growth and job creation.

In 2004 I worked with IBM formulating the innovation ecosystem framework for the National Innovation Initiative. I have been president of the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing and the Institute for Illinois and the strategic planner for Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology. As Deputy Assistant Secretary for productivity, technology, and innovation for the US Commerce Department I worked to implement the Bayh-Dole Act and develop the Federal Technology Transfer Act, dramatically altering IP ownership and commercialization rights for universities and federal labs. Working with David Kearns (Xerox) and Lewis Branscomb (IBM) we put together the ideas behind the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Under chair John Young (Hewitt-Packard) I served as director of the President's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness preparing the ground-breaking report Global Competition-The New Reality.

Earlier stints were as a futurist and R&D management expert at SRI International and staff analyst at the Office of Management and Budget and Council on Executive Organization. A graduate of Harvard College.

  • Work
    • Center for Accelerating Innovation
  • Education
    • Harvard College