This week, UW-Madison played host to a delegation of Iraqi professors and state officials discussing fostering economic and technological development through academia.
The 12-member delegation, selected by Iraq's Inter-Ministerial Committee on Innovation, Research and Development (ICIRD), spent the week attending lectures and presentations in the Grainger School of Business and across the UW-Madison campus.
The goal of visiting UW-Madison was to share the university's insights on utilizing academic innovation to bolster the economy, according to Office of Corporate Relations Assistant Director Allen Dines.
""The point of this whole delegation was to learn how to approach things …how we harvest the brainpower from this university,"" Dines said.
The delegation made stops Wednesday at the university's Wisconsin Entrepreneur Program, listening to lectures translated through a Bluetooth earpiece. Copies of the lectures were also translated to Arabic so the information could be used in Iraq once the delegation returns home.
UW-Madison is one of only two American universities to host a delegation, thanks in part to an alumnus working in the U.S. Dept. of Commerce who was ""impressed"" by Madison's business and technology programs, according to Dines.
Office of Corporate Relations Managing Director Charles Hoslet said in the press release he took the selection as a testament to UW-Madison's successful model of economic innovation.
""For UW-Madison to have been selected as a model institution for technology-based economic development is a mark of great achievement,"" Hoslet said. ""This sharing of knowledge, support and collaboration is what the Wisconsin Idea is all about.""
The delegation will wrap up its final day at UW-Madison Thursday.
