Slovakian President Andrej Kiska pays a visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Slovak President Andrej Kiska Visits MIT to Discuss Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Last Friday, Slovak President Andrej Kiska and a delegation from Slovakia visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to discuss ways to make Slovakia more competitive. The visit included a presentation by Philip S. Khoury and Bernd Widdig about MIT's global connections and international ties, as well as meetings with several MIT experts.
During the presentation, Kiska and his delegation learned about MIT's diverse campus community and partnerships like the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology. They also heard about edX, an online-learning platform founded by MIT and Harvard University in 2012, and MITx, the Institute's own online-learning program.
The discussion ensued on how to make Slovakia more competitive, with broad agreement that collaboration among the government, corporate sector, and universities was key to this process. Fiona Murray and Vladimir Bulovic, co-directors of the MIT Innovation Initiative, were among the experts Kiska met to discuss entrepreneurship and innovation.
Sherwin Greenblatt, director of MIT's Venture Mentoring Service, was also present during the discussion. Maren Cattonar of the MIT Deshpande Center was part of the group Kiska met to discuss entrepreneurship and innovation. Sanjay Sarma, MIT's director of digital learning, discussed edX and MITx with Kiska and his delegation.
Peter Kmec, the Slovak ambassador to the U.S., joined Kiska during his visit to the Institute. Representatives of Slovakia's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Ministry of Finance, consulates in New York and Boston, and members of the Slovakian media were also present during Kiska's visit.
Kiska and his delegation discussed entrepreneurship and innovation with several MIT experts during lunch in the Maclaurin Room. Kiska, an electrical engineer by training, has no previous political experience but gained prominence as a businessman in Slovakia's consumer credit industry. He is also a noted philanthropist.
Andrej Kiska became Slovakia's president last March by defeating Prime Minister Robert Fico in a runoff election. This visit to MIT marks an important step in Kiska's efforts to bring innovation and entrepreneurship to Slovakia.
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